Torn
by Girl in Blue
Summary: She was exhausted, but she wouldn’t go to sleep before she had an answer from Danny… She had screwed up badly. She wasn’t expecting him to forgive her, but she hoped he wouldn’t go away without saying goodbye. DXS Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Torn**

Chapter 1

**Present Day**

Sam was standing up in the middle of a beautiful garden, just under a cherry tree that had just blossomed. She was used to stop by every single day before or after work (it depends on her schedule) and she's spend half an hour just standing there, looking at the grass.

It had been a whole year since she first stood on that spot, returning everyday. She couldn't say she had better things to do. She was completely alone and she could live this life forever. It's a weird feeling just like the White Stripes song 'I'm lonely, but ain't that lonely, yet."

There were some things people could tell just by looking at her. She liked to wear light colors and high heels. She had dark hair that went down her shoulders and when she walked she's swing her hips elegantly. She was one of those super independent women who had a job as editor in a big magazine.

It was also possible see that she wasn't happy. She was cheerful in public, but that was just the mask she had to wear. Her heart had been broken so many times that she gave up having it mended. She locked her heart away in a dark chamber where no one could find it and hurt her again.

Her cell phone rang, breaking her melancholic mood. She opened her purse and found it just behind her wallet. She pushed it open and put on her ear.

"Hello?"

"Sammy…?" The woman in the line asked, unsure.

"Mom?" Sam's eyes widened. She had never expected her mother to find her, or to even bother looking. Since she left Amity Park five years ago, nobody had called her; they had just her to rot in this big hypocrite earth. "How did you find me?" She felt her throat closing up and she made her best to not let her mother know how glad she was to hear her voice.

"It doesn't matter, honey." Her mother said. Sam noticed that she was crying and that she made to efforts to hide it. "Sam, your father died."

Sam couldn't describe what she felt that moment. He had been the main reason she left home, she had hated him for five years and couldn't bring herself to forgive him, but instead of being glad when her mother told her the news, she felt a pang in the heart and tears pooled out of her eyes. It was at that moment that Sam realized she had forgiven him.

"Sam… are you coming?"

"Yes. I'll arrive tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, darling."

"Bye." Sam whispered, turning off the phone and looking at the grass in front of her. She sighed, wiping the tears of her eyes. She had hoped this day wouldn't come, but she had to go back to her hometown and face her family, her friend and… Danny. "I won't leave you here. I'll be back." She whispered to no one in particular.

She turned around and left the flowery grave behind.

**Five Years Ago**

_"I suppose I shouldn't feel so alone. I didn't care before if I could or not go out with my friends because I knew they were there for me for everything I needed. They say they are still here for me, but their priorities have changed. We don't hang out like we used to. There's only one day that we separated to be for just the three of us: Friendly Tuesday. We go from school to Nasty Burger and stay there for about an hour or two. Sometimes we go to play videogames at Tucker's house, but we don't go to the park, theater or my house anymore. The reason of all this is that both Danny and Tucker found themselves girlfriends."_

Sam stopped typing on her web journal for a while, changing her account to a private one. She didn't want Danny or Tucker to ever see her journal, because she had decided to take out her stress and even a fake name would be too risky.

_"Danny has been dating Valerie for almost two months now and Tucker is dating Star since three weeks ago. I don't think I can get used to see my best friends kissing, it's just weird. _

_Tucker and Star do not match, I'm happy for him, I really am, he got the girl he had been wanting for a long time, but they still look like they don't belong to each other, it's like when you try to mix pop art with classical poetry._

_Danny and Valerie look so much in love. I hate to admit it, but they look cool together! When I see they fighting ghosts together, moving around like in choreography, in perfect unison, I understand that they have something that bound them together._

_I hate it. I've had this silly crush on Danny for two years and as much as I try to get out of his way towards happiness with Valerie, I just end up hurting myself even more. I think I'm not a very good friend anymore. _

_I'm not complaining that they're together, I couldn't be that selfish. I understand that it's for the best that we ended up breaking apart, but this stupid loneliness is killing me. _

_Sometimes I wish I had friends other than those two. Sometimes I wish I had a female friend to who I could speak with. But I guess I was destined to be on my on. The only thing I can do at the moment is to hope that Tuesday come soon._

_PS - I have a surprise for them tonight, I already sent the flyers and I'll even allow them to bring their girlfriends. I think they'll love my surprise."_

Sam published her thoughts at the moment her phone rang. She felt really happy when she recognized Danny's number.

"Hey, Danny!" She held the phone up to her ear with her shoulder as she opened her wardrobe and pulled out a dark green dress.

"Hey, beautiful! I called you to tell you that something came up and Valerie and I won't be able to go today to the… what's the name?" Danny stopped for a while; Sam could hear the noise of papers. He was looking for the flyer she had sent him. "Oh, here, 'the music night' because her sister is in town and we decided to go visit her."

"Oh, how long will she be staying?" Sam asked, already feeling angry that he dumping her surprise without having even read the flyer she had sent him.

"About a week." Danny answered, cheerfully; he laughed and said something out of the receiver.

"Can't you visit her tomorrow? It's the only presentation." Sam insisted. "Valerie is there with you, right? Ask her if you can delay the visit."

"Sam, we can't delay it." Danny said, seriously.

"Well, then I guess you'll miss it." She said, biting her lower lip to relief her stress.

"Can I come later? I mean, I won't make it in time for the show, but we can meet later in a bar or something." He suggested.

"I think it will be impossible, after the show I'm going straight home because I have class the next day. I'm sorry you can't come." She said, making her voice sound as if she didn't care. Danny knew that voice very well and he could tell she was very angry.

"Don't be angry, Sam…" He said, sighing. "Listen I'll talk to Valerie, okay? I don't promise anything, but I'll try."

"Really, go see her sister, I don't mind." She lied. "It's just a stupid audition."

"Audition?"

"Look, Danny, I have to go, my cat is about to jump out of the window." She turned off her phone after hearing him asking her since when she had a cat. Sam was tired to beg for company. Tuesday night was very important to her with or without her friends.

She sighed in frustration and looked at her dress. It wasn't very gothic, but tonight she couldn't look like a rebel without a cause, she had to impress the teachers and the judgers. Her mother would be there and maybe even her father, she wanted to show them what she could do.

She took a quick shower and got dressed. She took an extra care with her hair and make up, wearing light colors for the first time in her life. In the end, she put high heels for a final touch. It was perfect. She put the lyrics in her purse and ran away to the theatre.

"No more talk of darkness,  
Forget these wide-eyed fears.  
I'm here, nothing can harm you  
My words will warm and calm you."

Tucker had the worse time of his life convincing Star to go to Sam's audition. He thought it was the most boring invitation she had even sent to him, but when he opened the flyer he read her name in the list he knew he had to be there. In the end, Star agreed in going with him, but only after he bought her three new sandals on his new credit card.

He sat next to her on the chairs Sam had reserved for them. Next to him were Sam's parents and in the other side were two empty seats. He was glad Star had decided to go with him, because he didn't want to sit next to Sam's father all by himself.

"Hello, Tucker." Sam's mother smiled at him.

"Hello, Mrs. Manson. Lovely night, isn't it?" He replied, nervously.

"Yes it is. Have you heard about the changing in the schedule?" She asked, handing him a new flyer. "One singer got sick, so Sam's teacher put her to sing two songs by the end of the audition. I bet my baby is really nervous."

"Oh, she'll sing twice?" He asked.

"Yes, looks like she's good at it." Mrs. Manson said, proudly.

Star completely ignored the conversation, fixing her make up in a mirror.

"Let me be your freedom,  
Let daylight dry your tears.  
I'm here, with you, beside you,  
To guard you and to guide you . . ."

The lights went off, the curtains opened and the first girl showed up, looking nervous. On the stage was a piano, drums, violins and guitars. All the musicians started playing the songs and the interpreters started singing.

Tucker was really upset that Danny and Valerie hadn't arrived, yet. He followed the schedule on the flyer and it said that Sam was the next to sing. He took his PDA from his pocket and decided to record her presentation, only to show Danny what he had missed.

"Then say you love me every winter morning,  
Turn my head with talk of summertime . . .  
Say you need me with you, now and always . . .  
Promise me that all you say is true  
That's all I ask of you . . ."

Sam was an amazing classical singer. She had trained for two years now and nobody had asked her why she was always busy on Saturday afternoon.

Tucker filmed her starting from her toes in an elegant pair of high heels. Her dress ended about her knees and hugged her curves tightly. She had her hair down and a make up that didn't look like something she'd wear.

"Let me be your shelter,  
Let me be your light.  
You're safe: no-one will find you  
Your fears are far behind you . . .  
All I need is freedom,  
A world that's warm and bright  
And you always beside me  
To hold me and to hide me . . ."

Sam couldn't see the public because the lights were very strong and it completely blinded her. She was wondering if Danny had come, but she didn't expect him to.

"Then say you'll share with me  
One love, one lifetime . . .  
Let me lead you from your solitude . . .  
Say you need me with you here, beside you . . .  
Anywhere you go, let me go too  
That's all I ask of you . . ."

Danny opened the door and entered in the theatre in the middle of Sam's first song. He had decided to go alone because Valerie refused to leave her sister to go see some boring show. Danny was going to call Sam one more time, when he watched her name written on the flyer.

"Say the word and I will follow you...  
Share each day with me, each night, each morning . . .  
Say you feel the way I do  
That's all I ask of you . . .  
Anywhere you go let me go too . . .  
Love me -that's all I ask of you . . ."

He had been amazed when he saw her standing there. He was sad because he ended up fighting with Valerie because of the Sam, but when he saw her his heart filled with joy. He had never known she could sing that well. He applauded when she was finished; he whistled and called her 'beautiful' even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

"Thank you." Sam said, blushing slightly. "That was my friend's song, but unfortunately she literally broke her leg and couldn't come tonight. The rights of that song belong to Phantom of the Opera musical." People applauded one more time and she smiled, waiting for them to stop. "And now I'll sing my song, it's called 'Certe Notti' Annalisa Minetti's version."

"Certe Notti la macchina è calda e dove ti porta lo decide lei.   
Certe notti la strada non conta e quello che conta è sentire che vai.  
Certe notti la radio che passa Neil Young sembra avere capito chi sei.  
Certe notti somigliano a un vizio che tu non puoi smettere, smettere mai."

'What language is that?' Danny thought, not recognizing what Sam was saying. He didn't know she spoke other languages.

"E si può restare soli, certe notti qui,

che chi s'accontenta gode, così così.  
Certe notti o sei sveglio, o non sarai sveglio mai,

ci vediamo da Mario prima o poi."

Tucker noticed that Star had stopped brushing her hair to look at Sam in confusion. "She speaks Italian?" She asked Tucker. Tucker raised his shoulders. He didn't know that, too.

"Certe Notti la macchina è calda e dove ti porta lo decide lei.   
Certe notti la strada non conta e quello che conta è sentire che vai.  
Certe notti la radio che passa Neil Young sembra avere capito chi sei.  
Certe notti somigliano a un vizio che tu non puoi smettere, smettere mai."

Sam noticed a small red light somewhere in the public. She blushed. There was someone recording.

"Non si può restare soli, certe notti qui,

che se ti accontenti godi, così così.  
Certe notti sei sveglio

Certe notti qui, certe notti qui, certe notti qui..."

The drums played for more three seconds before ending the song loudly. Sam was breathing heavily when she ended the music, but she had never been so satisfied. The lights went on and she saw people standing up and applauding.

She spotted Danny in the crowed, surprised. He had come!

About fifteen minutes later, Sam was out on the street talking to her parents and her friends. Everyone congratulated her, making her blush.

"So, we better go home, honey." Mrs. Manson said, putting a hand on Sam's back and leading her to her car.

"Uh- Mrs. Manson," Danny said, stopping them before they could enter in the car. "Can Sam stay with us for a while? I promise I'll take her home." He showed her his car keys to confirm that Sam wouldn't be in danger of walking home in the dark.

"Well, of course, as long as you don't stay out until too late." Mrs. Manson said, not seeing that her husband, who was inside the car, looking furious at his offer.

Sam was really surprised that Danny had called her to stay for a while with him, Tucker and Star. She smiled at him, feeling the warmth on her chest that she usually felt when she was with him.

"Don't you have to go back to Valerie?" She asked.

"We kind of had a fight." He said, sadly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm sure you'll be okay again in the morning." Sam pretended to be sad for him, but she was really glad they had fought. Maybe tonight she could hang with him like they used to.

"I vote we go to the Nasty Burger!" Tucker said, cheerfully.

"And I say we go to the park and finish this off." Sam said, taking out of her bag a bottle of Vodka.

"Where did you get that?" Danny and Tucker asked at the same time, equally surprised.

"It's amazing what you can get when you look older." Sam smiled. Star, for the first time agreed with her, saying that either the boys decided to go or not, she was in.

"Fine, we're in." Danny said, still suspicious.

"I'm driving!" Tucker said, grabbing Danny's keys and rushing to the car.

Danny sighed, put one arm around Sam and guided her to the car, smiling down at her and kissing her head gently, like he used to... you know, before Valerie. Sam sighed in contentment and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you." She whispered in an inaudible voice.

**AN- A brand new story for you and this one is more mature as you can see… I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to review. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Present Day**

"Miss, would you like some water or soda?" The stewardess asked Sam, waking her up gently.

"No, but I'd be glad if you had tea." Sam smiled, sitting up straight on her first class chair.

"Of course, I'll be right back."

Sam sighed and stood up, walking to the bathroom. She hated airplane's bathroom, but she couldn't help herself, being in the air always made her feel sick, especially after her last trip. She still remembered how sick she felt back then, she barely got out of the bathroom the whole trip and it was about three hours.

Her father had died. She was going back to Amity Park to say her final goodbyes. It wasn't like that she had hoped she would go back. When she left she imagined herself returning there to show him that she had actually made it on her own, that she didn't need him or his money. But now everything had changed.

And what about her friends? Had they changed? Had Danny gotten married to Valerie? Was Tucker still going out with Star? Whatever happened to them, Sam was sure they weren't missing her. Danny wouldn't miss her after their fight. Sam felt herself growing cold just by the memory of that faithful day.

_She was breathing shortly and quickly when she knocked on Danny's door. She was so nervous she even forgot how to breathe right. Only to make it worse Valerie was the one who answered the door. _

_"What are you doing here?" Valerie asked. _

_"Guess." Sam replied._

_It was obvious to everyone that both girls couldn't stand each other, but they tried their best to be civil because they had Danny in common. They couldn't fight each other and expect Danny to be okay with it. _

_"Danny!" Valerie called, opening the door for Sam to go inside. "Sam is here."_

_"Coming!" Danny called from his room. _

_Sam felt the nervousness coming back to her. She had some bad news for him and she couldn't say them in front of Valerie. Actually, it would be better if Valerie was as far away as possible. _

_Danny came down the stairs and said 'hi' to her, not daring hug or kiss her in front of his girlfriend. Sam hated how their relationship seemed to be based on not making each other jealous, even for the smallest things. _

_"Danny, I have to talk to you, it's very important." She said, quickly, Danny immediately understood that she was near panic. _

_"Well, just say it." He said, confused. Sam remained silent, looking at him, indicating Valerie standing there. "Sam, you're freaking me out."_

_"I'll tell you in private." She insisted. _

_"I'm not going anywhere." Valerie put her hands on her hips. "Danny and I have no secrets."_

_"Danny, please." Sam insisted. _

_"Well," He seemed to think about it for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sam, but whatever you have to tell me, you'll have to do it in front of Valerie." _

_"I can't!" Sam said, pleading him silently to do as she said. _

_"I'm sorry." Danny kept his word and Valerie sat on the sofa, watching them quietly. _

_"Danny, I'm your best friend!" Sam yelled, feeling her eyes filling up with tears. She had never cried in front of him, she never showed her weakness to anyone. _

_"Well, Valerie is my girlfriend!" He insisted. "Sam, you can tell me." He tried to calm her down, seeing that she was desperate. He wanted badly to hug her at that moment, but he couldn't. _

_It was when lost her mind completely. _

_"Danny, you have to make a choice right now." She said seriously. Danny looked down at her, terrified. "Me or Valerie?" She kept her eyes on his, noticing that Valerie had stood up in surprise, waiting for his answer, too. _

_Danny found himself in panic. He didn't understand Sam's question. Was she saying that she wanted him? Was she so jealous that she was trying to break him and Valerie? He suddenly felt furious. What was Sam playing at? She had never liked Valerie; of course she'd try to make them break up. _

_"Valerie." He answered, not blinking. His face hardened and Sam could see that he was angry so angry that his eyes had flashed green for a second or two._

_"I'd expected that." Sam whispered, turning around and leaving the house, leaving both Danny and Valerie completely confused. _

_"Wait, Sam!" Danny had running after her, but when he got on the street he saw that she had entered her convertible vehicle that was full of bags. Sam didn't look back at him. She stepped on the gas and sped up, disappearing completely of Amity Park._

Sam couldn't believe she was actually going back, back to face it all again.

**Five Years Ago**

It had snowed on Christmas day. Sam had alone on her house when she woke up. Her parents had traveled for a party in Brussels and weren't coming back until New Year's Eve. She was in the kitchen pouring herself some eggnog when a very happy Halfa showed up, bringing her present.

"Merry Christmas!" He said, hugging her when she less expected it. She dropped the eggnog all over her pajamas. "Sorry." He laughed. "Looks like you won't spend the day in pajamas this Christmas."

"Yeah…" Sam pouted, pretending to be hurt. "You ruined it."

"Don't make that face!" He laughed. "Or I won't give your present."

"Ok!" She cheered up quickly. "I'm going to change and I'll be right back!"

Fifteen minutes later she came down the stairs wearing a long skirt and a sweater. Danny was sitting on the stairs with his back to her when she jumped on him.

"I want my present now!"

"Fine, fine!" He said, managing to get the crazy girl off him before he suffocated. "Here it is." He said, handing her the small box.

"Thank you!" She smiled, kissing his cheek. "I bought you something, too. Don't tell my parents." She put a larger box in front of him.

They sat down grinning at each other as they ripped the wrappings and saw what was inside. Danny got a watch, with silver and gold in the center forming the numbers and the pointers.

"Gosh, Sam, that must have been expensive!" He said, looking at the watch closely.

"It wasn't that expensive." Sam laughed. "My mother bought me a diamond necklace, but since I wasn't going to use it, I returned it to the store and got something cheaper for me and got that watch for you."

Sam saw that her present was a golden bracelet with her name on it, gasping by the sight of it. She had never gotten a jewel from Danny before.

"Well, by your silence, I guess you like it." Danny grinned.

"I love it!" Sam squeaked like one of those prep girls she hated involuntary. She took it from the box and tried to put it on, but she couldn't close it with her left hand so Danny gave her a little help. "It looks amazing."

"I guessed you'd like it." Danny smiled. "It made my choices in presents much easier since you decided to light up your gothic thing."

"I'm still a Goth!" She remembered him. "Let's go to the kitchen, I still haven't eaten anything."

"I want some of your magical eggnog." Danny said, standing up.

"Magical?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's so sweet that at each sip you gain three pounds magically."

"That must have been the worse commentary I've ever heard!"

"Sam…" Danny looked at her, becoming serious as she poured him some eggnog. She looked up, smiling, only to see how serious he looked.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm going out with Valerie."

Nothing.

Sam dropped her mug on the ground, breaking the silence.

"Oh!" She said, picking some napkins to clean the mess. She didn't say anything else. She tried to use these feel seconds to figure out an answer, but her brain was completely blank. Before she could stop herself she was wearing the friendship mask. "That's great! How did you manage to make her say 'yes'?"

"I guess she liked me for a while, too." He tried to look over the table, to the ground where Sam was hiding herself.

"That's wonderful!"

"Sam, come out from under there. I want to look at you." Danny said, he feared she was annoyed, because he knew how much Sam hated Valerie, maybe as much as she hated Paulina.

Sam sighed and put the pieces of mug on the table, before standing and leaning towards Danny with a big smile that made her heart bleed.

"I'm happy for you." She said, sounding sincere, even though she was lying.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, suspiciously.

"I am." Sam smiled, picking the glass and the wet napkins and throwing them at the garbage. "So, would you like to go out for some fun on the snow?"

"Sure, why not?" He grinned at her, believing that everything was all right.

**Present Day**

Sam crossed the airport after checking herself in the country, getting her small bag and going out, looking for a taxi.

"To Amity Park cemetery, please." She said, opening her purse and grabbing a mirror, checking if the circles under her eyes weren't visible. She looked at the time; her watch was on her right wrist with the bracelet she had never taken out. She was late for the funeral in her house, maybe she'd be able to arrive in time at the cemetery.

Her eyes were red. She covered them up with sunglasses, even though it wasn't a sunny day. She looked out of the window, seeing the familiar views. The buildings looked the same, some houses had been painted and others seemed to rot quicker than usual.

She sighed when the taxi stopped in front of the cemetery. She paid the driver and looked over the green field, seeing a large reunion of people wearing black, all of them had their backs turned to her so they didn't see her arriving.

Crossing the field over the other tombs, Sam saw her mother, wearing red and sitting on a chair in the first line. She had an empty seat by her side, which Sam thought was reserved for her. Her heart was heavy, but Sam learned how to control her feelings so that they wouldn't surface on her features.

Her face was normal, as if she was walking on the street doing nothing in particular. Her black dress and high heels were modest and she hoped nobody would recognize her. When she got closer of the group, she saw Danny standing there with his family. Tucker was nowhere to be seen and neither was Valerie or Star.

Some people looked up when they heard her arriving. She saw her uncle and aunt and they recognized her immediately. Her aunt tapped her mother's shoulder gently, making her turn around anxiously. When she did that, lots of people followed her eyes and saw Sam, too, adding one plus one and realizing who she was.

Danny gasped when he saw her. Sam completely ignored him, noticing that Jazz was holding him by his shoulder so that he wouldn't run at her. Sam walked to her mother when people freed the way for her.

Mrs. Manson stood up, sobbing in a mix of happiness for seeing her daughter again and dread for the situation they were in. She opened her arms and Sam walked faster, burying herself in her mother's welcoming arms.

"Oh, my baby girl." Mrs. Manson said, crying on her daughter's shoulder. "Your father, he regretted so much what happened."

"Don't worry, mom." Sam whispered, caressing her back, trying to calm her down. "We'll talk later, okay?" Sam couldn't believe that she was being more mature than her mother. She had never comforted her mother, it was weird.

Both daughter and mother sat up and watched the rest of the burial holding each other's hand tightly, remembering who they were.

It didn't take long to people start standing up and going away. Danny watched Sam as if he was enchanted. He couldn't believe how much she had matured. She was looking like a woman, she was standing and acting like a woman. He reminded himself that she was still a girl; she was only twenty two, the same age as he was.

He didn't know what had happened to her these five years she had gone away, what she had done, where she worked, if she had gone to college, if she had found a boyfriend. She could even be married for all he knew. He heard someone yelling and looked up to see Mr. Manson's brother looking at Sam really pissed off.

"How could you leave, knowing his condition? Worse, how dare you come back here?" He yelled, making people look at them. Mrs. Manson tried to get in the way, but it was the man's wife who was able to hold him back and drag him out of the cemetery.

"Sam, don't listen to him, he doesn't know what happened." Mrs. Manson said. Sam had her back turned to Danny, but he could see when she lifted up her hands to dry her tears.

Whatever that man had said, had broken Sam in a way Danny had never seen before. He desperately wanted to go to her and hug her, saying that he was sorry for their stupid fight and that he'd never let her go again.

Truth be told, when Sam went away, Danny thought she wasn't going for real. He reasoned that she might be gone for a week or two because sooner or later she'd need money, a place to stay and of course, she'd have to finish high school. He really imagined her knocking on his door and throwing herself in his arms saying that she was sorry. But the first week passed, and then the second.

He had looked for her everywhere he thought possible, looking on near cities on hotels, on her credit card account on the internet, but he hadn't found anything. In the first six months he hadn't given up, but when time passed and she hadn't returned, he realized he had lost her for good. And all that time he had thought it was because of a silly answer to her question.

Now he realized there was a deeper reason for her to disappear. She had fought with her family. Her uncles and cousins seemed to hate her. Only few friends were treating her decently; her mother was being so gentle to her that Danny thought she was a different woman.

His family walked in Sam's direction, hugging her and her mother. Danny sighed when it was inevitable to talk to Sam. He held her tightly. She was completely hiding herself under her sunglasses. Sam didn't hug him back as enthusiastically as she normally would, just politely stepped away from him.

"My condolences, Sam." He said, not knowing what else to say. It had been five years since he had seen her and the first line that came out of his mouth was that one.

"Thanks, Danny." She said, quietly, turning away from him to hug Jazz, who seemed to get a warmer embrace than he had.

She still hadn't forgiven him.

**Hi! Well, I bet it'll get confusing from now on, but you'll enjoy the little mistery I've prepared. Don't forget to make an author happy, leave a review and I'll love you forever :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**One Year Ago**

Sam was sitting on her bedroom, holding her pillow and crying desperately. It was raining outside and she wished very hard that one ray would fall on her heard. She was starting to run out of breathe when she decided that she couldn't go on like that.

She screamed on top of her lungs, not caring what her neighbors would think. She was in pain and that felt never-ending. It was like she'd have to live with that pain for the rest of her days.

Her head was pounding painfully like she had hit it repeatedly against the wall. Maybe she had, she didn't remember anything. She wanted badly to erase him of her mind, but it was impossible. She was going to burn his pictures, but that wouldn't help.

She had tried everything already. She tried to drink herself to unconscious, she had taken four sleeping pills after that, but the only thing that happened was waking up twenty three hours later with the same pain.

Standing up on her weak legs, she managed to walk into the bathroom, leaning on everything she could reach. She found a razor behind her medicine. With a heavy heart, she walked back to her bed. If only she could stop crying for a minute and start actually thinking, but it was impossible.

She bit her lip open as she slit her left wrist. The blood pooled out deep red and dense, dripping on the floor like an opened faucet. Sam leaned on her pillow, feeling tired. By the time she fell asleep, she was still crying.

**Present Day**

Sam woke up on her old bed at three in the afternoon. Her mother had brought her straight home and prepared her bed, saying that Sam should get some sleep and that they would talk later.

She smelled pancakes and orange cream and couldn't help a smile. She had missed her mother's food, there is, when she cooked. She stood up and out of curiosity, opened her wardrobe. The clothes she had left were still there together with some flowery dresses she had never seen before. She saw a small summer dress that wasn't pink nor had flowers in it and decided to try it on.

It was tight on the chest, as she expected it to be. It wasn't very uncomfortable, so she decided to wear that anyway and make her mother happy. She checked her left wrist, making sure her watch would cover the scar.

She climbed down the stairs, remembering the all the details and memories that had been shut down somewhere in her brain. It had been long since she felt home and completely forgetting the sad events that made her come back; she was enjoying the visit as much as she could.

"I smell pancakes…" She said, entering the kitchen, seeing her mother finishing to put the last one on a plate. Sam suddenly felt like she couldn't get enough of hugging her mother, she smiled and embraced the woman she had liked to pest so much.

"Honey, you have no idea how much I missed you." Mrs. Manson said, kissing her daughter's forehead.

They sat together at the kitchen table. Mrs. Manson took out her apron, watching as Sam helped herself of her favorite food.

"So…" Mrs. Manson started, a bit uncomfortably and Sam went rigid, already knowing what she was going to ask. "Why didn't you bring-"

"Don't." Sam said quickly, cutting her mother before she could ask anymore questions. "I'm trying not to think about it."

Mrs. Manson's eyes widened up, her mouth hanging open in a sad surprise.

"How have you been?" Sam asked, pouring herself some orange juice.

"As good as it was possible." Mrs. Manson sighed, trying to not show Sam how shocked she was from the news. "Your father had been in bed the last six months and I was taking care of him because the nurses pissed me off." She tried to joke.

"Six months in bed?" Sam repeated. "Sounds like hell."

"Ironically, it wasn't the cancer that killed him, but a stroke." Mrs. Manson said not dropping one single tear; it seemed she had dried her eyes off.

"Our family is full or ironies." Sam said. "Grandma ended in the hospital because of her diabetes and died without any sugar on her body."

Both women stared at each other in silence for long minutes before Sam broke down completely. She leaned over her mother, hugging her tightly.

"I'm so tired of funerals!"

**Five Years Ago**

Danny had no idea why Sam had skipped school that day so he decided to pay her a visit when the class ended. He stopped at the Nasty Burger and bought two strawberry Sundays, her favorite, and resumed his walk to her house.

He knocked but nobody answered. He tried the handle and the door opened. He had his free way to her room so he didn't waste his change to talk to her without her parents making faces at him. He climbed up the stair and saw her bedroom door opened and the lights were on.

"Hey, Sam, I got you ice cream!" He walked inside cheerfully, but both ice creams ended on the floor when he saw her.

Sam was wearing just a towel and it dropped when she jumped in surprise when she heard him.

They stared at each other, embarrassedly for what seemed centuries. They didn't dare move. Danny saw everything and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sam was beautiful.

Sam, in the other hand, quickly looked away from him and picked her tower up, covering herself.

"Danny, please knock before coming into my room." She said.

Danny was confused by the fact that she didn't seem to be angry at him and she hadn't told him to go away, either. He watched her as she turned away from him, picked her panties and bra and put them on without dropping her tower with an amazing skill.

Danny tried to not blush, but he was really annoyed that she didn't mind him seeing her. Did that mean he wasn't a 'threat'? That he wasn't male enough so that she didn't mind him seeing her?

"Looks like the ice creams are ruined." He said.

"We can always go out and get more." She smiled at him, putting on a skirt and a shirt quickly. "Just wait a minute, I'm almost finished."

"No problem, by the way, why didn't you go to school?" Danny asked, sitting on her bed.

"Nobody woke me up, I just slept in." She explained. "I wonder where everyone is."

"Well, wherever they are they didn't mind locking the door." Danny said. "But I guess they just went out looking for a new convertible or something."

"You really know my parents, don't you?" Sam grinned, finishing her hair. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Sam…" Danny started, gulping when he saw that she was looking at him. "You didn't mind?"

"Mind what?" she half laughed.

"Me? Seeing you?" He tried, feeling his face burning.

"Of course not, silly." She laughed; sitting down next to him and hugging him. "You're my best friend. I trust you." And she finally let go hitting his arm playfully "Besides, if you've seen it before you're not surprised and if you haven't you don't know what it is."

Danny laughed, too and they went together to the Nasty Burger to get new ice creams. Danny thought that her logic was a bit twisted, he had seen a naked girl before, but he was still surprised, but he wasn't going to tell her.

**Present Day**

Danny stood in front of Sam's house, thinking very hard if he should or shouldn't knock. He wanted to talk to her, to hug her and say he was sorry for the stupid fight. He wanted to know how she was doing. But it was ridiculous to call her for a walk on the day she buried her father.

He thought of returning the next day, Jazz suggested waiting for about a week to talk to her, but he couldn't wait that long. What if Sam wasn't back to stay? What if she went away the first thing in the morning? Danny couldn't let her go away again without talking to her properly, without hearing the reason why she decided to go.

He held his breathe and knocked.

Someone walked towards the door and opened it slightly. Danny saw Sam's surprised face when she saw him. He worked on a smile, not a very enthusiastically one, and said what he always said when he saw her.

"Hey, Sam."

"Danny… I wasn't expecting you." She said, not stepping away from the door.

"I know it's not the best timing, but I'd like to talk to you." He said in a small voice.

"Uh… sure." She said, very confused. She turned away from him and called her mother "Mom, I'm going out for a while. Do you need anything?" Danny heard Mrs. Manson saying that she was fine and so Sam closed the door and climbed down the porch, standing next to him. "Do you mind if we take a walk?"

"I was hoping for the same thing." He grinned, putting a hand on the small of her back. "Let's go to the park."

"Sure." She agreed, after a long moment of hesitation.

They walked side by side for long minutes and Danny realized she wasn't going to start any conversation so it was up to him. He wished she hadn't grown so cold and distant. He really missed her, the old Sam he used to hang out with.

"So… how have you been?" He tried.

"All right, I guess." She sighed. "You?"

"Pretty much the same since you left." He replied quietly. The uncomfortable silence threatened to return, but he wouldn't allow it. "Have you finished high school?"

"Yes, it took me one summer studding, but I finished it with high scores." She smiled at him. "Have you gone to college?"

"Yes, I studied astronomy and I have this part time job on the observatory." He finally felt like they were getting used to each other again. It was weird trying to know your best friend all over again. "Have you?"

"Yes. I studied Publicity and now I work as an editor in a Magazine." She smiled, seeing Danny's surprise.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"Yes, it's very rewarding." She replied. "Do you want to walk by Tucker's house and call him to walk with us?" She asked, remembering how easy it was to be around Danny.

"Tucker…" Danny laughed silently. "That old dog." He put his hands on his pockets. "Tucker is on his honeymoon."

"What?" Sam's eyes widened and her jaw hit dirt. She couldn't help but laugh, too, stopping in the middle of the sideway, making Danny look at her in the eyes. She had to know it wasn't a joke. "Tucker got married? You're kidding right?"

"Nope, I'm not." Danny laughed. "He married Star last week. They're somewhere in England."

"STAR?" Sam cried out in a happy surprise. "I can't believe it!"

"Neither can I." He replied, his laughter subsiding. "It's weird to see Tucker as a married man."

"Really, I wasn't expecting that." Sam said, resuming their walk.

"He didn't send you an invitation because he didn't know where to find you." Danny explained. "He really wanted you to be there as a bridesmaid."

"Well, looks like I'll have to send my apologies to him when he returns."

"You haven't, right?" Danny asked, suddenly feeling his heart drop.

"What? Gotten married?" Sam half laughed, seeing Danny nodding. "No, of course not. You know how much I hate social conventions such as marriage."

"But you're not alone are you?" Danny insisted.

"Yes, I am. I'm a completely independent business woman." She grinned.

"You never got a boyfriend?"

"I don't have time for relationships." Sam explained, wanting to end the questions about her love life that instant. "What about you? Are you still with Valerie?"

"No, we broke up two weeks after you left." Danny said, quietly, kicking a rock out of the way.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sam said, but indeed, she wasn't sorry at all. "Do you mind me asking why?"

"That's fine. She got angry because I was looking for you." He explained. Sam frowned, as if she was thinking very hard about something, but she didn't interrupt him. "She was the jealous type and couldn't get over the fact that I still thought you would come back." Danny sighed. "But it was a long time ago. We finished high school, we went to college and I never saw her again."

"Are you over her?" Sam asked.

"Of course I am, I dated other girls after we broke up, but I think I never found the right one." He smiled. "Now I'm single."

"Life is weird." Sam said to herself out loud. "Are you still living with your parents?"

"Yes. I can't leave the Ghost Portal and move away, besides the lab is the best place to test my powers."

"Have you improved?" Sam asked.

"You'd be surprised. I can duplicate."

"Great. And the Ghostly Wail?"

"I can control it just fine, though it is hard to use it and keep the town in one piece."

Sam smirked at him. He was her Danny still. He hadn't changed a bit. She looked at his face noticing that now he looked like a man, he was taller than she was and had some sexy atmosphere around him. Danny looked down and saw her staring at him.

"What?" He grinned.

"You're shaving." She smiled, reaching up and touching his cheeks. "It's so weird to see you all grown up."

"You grew up, too." He smirked, looking down at her tight dress.

"Oh, I see you still like to embarrass me." Sam blushed, covering her chest.

"Sorry, old habits die hard." He said, putting one comforting arm around her shoulders. He noticed on her right wrist the bracelet he had given her and smiled, happy that she hadn't forgotten him. "Where are you living now?"

"Uh," Sam remained in silence for a long time. Should she tell him? Would he go look for her? "Canada."

"I didn't imagine you'd leave the country." Danny looked slightly surprised. "That's why I didn't find you."

"I didn't want to be found." She answered simply.

"Why not, Sam?" Danny asked, frustrated. They had just crossed the Park's gates and were heading for the lake. When Sam didn't answer him, he bent down and grabbed a small rock, throwing it in the water. He sighed. She wasn't going to tell him the reason. "How did you manage to live? Have you worked somewhere before going to college?"

"It's not a very pleasant story." She said, sitting down under a tree, watching Danny as he threw rocks on the water.

"I want to hear it. I want to know what happened to you." He sat down by her side, grasping her hand. "Whatever happened I'm here for you now."

"When I decided to leave Amity Park I closed my account on the bank, got all the money in cash I could and drove until I reached New York." She started telling him, sighing in frustration. She didn't want to tell her misfortunes to no one, but Danny was the only best friend she had ever had and somehow she felt she owed him the truth… or part of it.

"I looked there, too." Danny sighed.

"Anyway, I spent three days there; I sold my car and bought tickets for a flight to Canada." She said. "I managed to buy a small apartment in a small town near Toronto, but after that I was left with no money." She looked down at their joined hands. "I did something crazy…" Danny wasn't looking at her, but he tightened his grip on her hand to show her he was there. "I stripped once, got the money and never returned to that club. After that I got a part time job as a waitress… the stupid uniform was pink!"

Danny didn't laugh. He was looking at the lake so serious that it frightened Sam. She stopped speaking for a while, waiting for him to say something.

"And after that?"

"I finished high school and got into the university. The university was near my town so I didn't have to move again. It was really hard to make friends, but in the end I met one girl that helped me a lot. Unfortunately after the classes were over she moved away to work in Europe and I was left alone again."

"Have you always been alone?" He asked. "Nobody helped you?"

"I'm used being alone, Danny." Sam sighed. "Even here I was mostly on my own. You and Tucker were great friends, but you couldn't be there for me 24-7." She explained, as if it was obvious. "Anyway, I got that job in the magazine, got a bigger apartment and I'm really good. Life is smiling at me." She finished her tale, with a happy smile.

"Are you happy?" He asked, quietly.

"I can't say that." Sam sighed. "I have my happy moments, but they don't last forever, right? That's normal, I guess."

"What happened that you had to go away? Was it that bad that you couldn't stay and get help?"

"It was impossible." Sam said.

"Sam…" Danny pressed on, turning to look into her eyes. Sam held her breathe. "What would have happened if I had chosen you instead of Valerie?"

**There you go, another chapter **

**I'm so sorry I took so long to update! I'm finally working on my final project to graduate and never return to college again (ok, I might… so I can get a PhD, lol). I'm so clumsy in that university and I have to tell you what happened to me last week. In the campus there are five huge buildings, two of them which Film students (me!) have classes in. I had a project to show my teacher on building #5 with a friend (who was having class on building #1, which is also a museum) and the teacher gave me 5 minutes to find her and bring her to the classroom or he would fail us both! I ran through the buildings like crazy and climbed about 5 thousand steps (I'm not kidding!) to find her and when I was already on building #1 I decided to take a shortcut through the museum (which was closed because it was about 7am)… it was completely dark and I almost decided against going in there, but I had only 2 min left! I saw a light in the end of the museum (which is where the classrooms are) and ran for it, I ran and ran and bang! I hit my head straight in the wall! I fell backwards with a huge bruise on my forehead! Instead of thinking I might have a concussion (or that I might have ruined an artwork), I thought 'OMG! I need to find my friend!' and ran again. I found her and brought her to the classroom… while I was talking about my project in the front of the whole class everything started to spin and when I looked up I saw how swollen my forehead was… I understood at that moment why everybody was looking at me worriedly. As soon as I finished speaking my teacher said 'ok, now please someone take her to the nursery.' I spent the rest of my day there… and ouch, it still hurts. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Five Years Ago**

It was late. It was one month late. Sam walked around her room in her underwear, looking at one mirror, then at other one. She was pale, all right, she had been hungrier than normal, but she completely ignored it, maintaining her meals schedule. She turned around, looking at herself in the mirror. She wasn't getting any fat, actually she had gotten thinner.

'There's no other way," She thought. "I'll have to go to the drugstore."

She threw a coat over herself and buttoned it up, covering herself completely. She grabbed her car keys and drove down to the street, crossing the town to go to a drugstore far away from her house, where nobody would see what she was buying.

She felt like screaming in frustration, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. She had to know before it was too late. She got out of the car and entered the drugstore.

When she was back in her room, she opened the packages and pulled out the faithful tests.

Five, she had bought five of them.

Today, she wasn't alone in her house; her parents were just down the hall in their room. She had to be really careful. She entered her suite, deciding against going to the main bathroom of the house. She left the packages on her bed and took the tests in the bathroom with her.

"The results are shown in about a minute" She took a deep breathe and closed the door.

She tapped her feet. She walked around in the small space she had. She washed her face. She studied her stomach. She sighed and jumped up and down to relieve the stress.

One minute.

"Samantha!" Her father's voice stormed from just outside the door. He was inside her room, he had seen the packages. He was furious.

Sam quickly looked at the test before opening the door. Her father pulled her out of the bathroom grabbing one fist full of her shirt. She was used in seeing him angry, but he had never touched her before. She fell on the bed with the grace of a sack of potatoes.

He walked up to her spiting fire. He threw at her one of the empty test's packages.

"You've been fooling around! I knew you'd be trouble as a teen, Samantha, but you disappointed me beyond my expectations!" He yelled at her, grabbing her roughly by her shoulders and shaking her. "My own child, a slut!"

"Dad, it's not like that!" She sobbed, trying to explain herself, but he wasn't listening. In his fury, he ripped her black curtains, her Gothic posters and only stopped when he saw his wife entering the room, scared because of all the screaming. "Mom, please, stop him!" She begged.

Before Mrs. Manson could do anything, Sam's father slapped his daughter across her face and stormed out of the room, slamming all the doors he found. Sam lay down on her bed, sobbing hysterically. Her mother, who was as scared as she was, recognized the packages on the bed and lifted a hand over her mouth; she entered the bathroom and saw all the five tests in the sink.

All of them were blue.

**Present Day**

Danny waited for Sam to answer. Sam looked at him, imagining what would have been her answer that day, five years ago. Sam gave him a small smile, but couldn't answer it while looking into his eyes.

"I'd have asked if you'd like to go with me." She replied, looking at the movement of the lake, as the wind blew small waves in their direction. "I think lots of things would have been different."

"I suppose…" Danny sighed, leaning against the tree.

"But I'm glad you chose her. I'm glad we got separated." Sam said, standing up and brushing the leaves out of her dress.

"You are?" Danny asked, confused and slightly angry.

"Of course." Sam gave him a small smile. "I wouldn't be what I am today."

Danny stood up, too, seeing that the conversation was over.

"Are you going back to Canada?" He asked.

"In a week."

"Can I take you to the movies?" He asked. He had decided that he wouldn't let her go away that easily. He had a week to convince her to stay in Amity Park.

"When?" She asked, already thinking of an excuse to turn him down.

"Tomorrow, maybe. If you're free…"

"I don't know, Danny." She decided to be honest with him. "We haven't seen each other for five years; it's just strange to go to out with you like nothing had happened."

"You're different." Danny whispered, looking down into her eyes, in disappointment. "You changed a lot… the Sam I knew wouldn't care if it had been ten years."

"That's because that Sam died five years ago." Sam responded, trying to hold back the tears with all the will power she had. "I'm sorry, I changed, but I couldn't help it." She turned her back to him and started walking away.

"You can change back if you want." He insisted shouting his thoughts at her, making her stop in the middle of the park. She heard his feet crushing the leaves as he ran to her. She felt his familiar arms hugging her from behind in the way she loved so much. "Please, Sam. Don't leave me again."

"I can't stay here." She answered simply, somewhere inside her, she felt her heart being touched by his pleas. She had been back one day and he was already managing to give life back to her now cold heart. She couldn't allow to be touched by his sweet words.

Danny held her even more tightly.

"At least tell me why you had to go away."

Sam felt his warm tears wetting her dress. It was hard to keep her indifference when she noticed that her inside had melted completely in his arms. She gently brushed him off her, stepping away from him one more time. He stood there, staring at her back, waiting for her to say something before she left him for good.

"I was pregnant."

**Seven Years Ago**

"… and then Skulker ran back into the Ghost Zone all by himself!" Danny said, laughing.

Sam and Tucker laughed, while sitting on their spot around their room.

"Really, Danny, you're improving a lot." The fourteen years old Sam said.

"I can't believe you beat Desiree with just one wish!" Tucker said, still laughing.

Danny lay on his bed, yawning. He was really satisfied with his fight of the week. The ghosts seemed to only show up with an elaborate plan to capture him, but they never succeeded. It meant that the ghosts showed up less and less.

"What if we go out for a movie?" Sam suggested. "A French Terror movie was released tonight."

"I won't watch a French movie." Tucker complained. "It's too much poetry for my action-thirsty brain."

"There will be lots and lots of blood, I swear!" Sam insisted, but the boys weren't on the mood for risking it. "What about a show? I heard the Helloween will be playing on the stadium."

"Intelligent rock music? Never!" Danny complained.

"So, are we just going to lie down and waste our night away?" Sam shot up on her feet immediately. "You boys are lazy as turtles!"

"Well, I'm sorry if we ran out of ideas." Tucker said, yawning, too.

"That's it." Sam said, infuriated. She opened the door of Danny's room. "I'm going to hear and recite some Gothic poetry in some Gothic club where is much more fun than spend time with you." Then she stormed away of the house.

"That time of the month again." Tucker said out loud, making Danny shrug. He really didn't need to hear that.

"I think we've been too mean to her, maybe we should go with her to that poetry club." Danny said, sitting up.

"It bothers me that she's going all artistic out of nowhere." Tucker said, sitting up, too. "I think she's finally surrendering to human feelings and doesn't know how to express them."

"Well, she's a girl after all… holy shit, Tuck!" Danny said, standing up and looking at the calendar hanging on the wall. "Today was her birthday!"

"You're kidding!" Tucker checked his PDA. "No, you're not kidding."

"It's past ten and there's no store open!" Danny said, panicking. "Oh, she's going to kill us!"

"Actually, I think she'll be depressed and lock herself in her room and cry among candles. It's more in the mood she's in now." Tucker said.

"It's no time to joke, Tuck. What are we going to do?" Danny said, opening his wardrobe and dressing a jacket.

"We go out and see if we're lucky and find an open store." Tucker pocketed his PDA.

Half an hour later, they were standing in front of the illegal Goth Club with the only gift they could find, a bouquet of red roses. They had no idea what Sam would think of the lame excuse for a present, but it was better than nothing, besides, they were about to enter in the club she was always inviting them.

The Goth on the door greeted them with indifference. He pointed their shirts and shook his head.

"We're not Goths, but our friend is and today is her birthday." Danny said, showing him the flowers. "We sort of forgot it and we have less than an hour to make it up to her."

"Please, let us in!" Tucker said, trying to make the man on the door look sympathetic.

"Who is your friend?" He asked.

"Sam Manson." Danny answered, "I don't think you know her, but-"

"Sam is your friend?" The man looked surprised. "She's one of our best poets here!"

"She is?" Tucker and Danny asked together, confused.

"Of course, anyway, get in already, she's about to recite a new one." The Goth opened the door and let both Danny and Tucker inside.

They saw a blonde boy on the stage saying something about darkness and endless pain and decided to find themselves a table to sit down. They found an empty table right behind Sam, who was sitting alone with a cocktail in front of her.

Before Danny and Tucker had a chance to talk to her the blond on the stage walked to her table, sitting beside her, lightening up a cigarette and offering it to her. She took a drag before giving it back to him, standing up and going to the stage.

"_To be as She,"_ She proclaimed the title.

"_It is a night of dark desire, a song of sorrow,_

_Wolves vent their loneliness._

_The ethereal one rises,_

_Curling wisps of death surround_

_her pale form a timeless agony._

_Her raven hair cascades over translucent_

_Ivory shoulders and her full scarlet lips_

_Part slightly to taste red tears_

_Streaming from pale flesh beneath her_

_Now a night of ecstasy, I weep."_

She returned to her table one more time, the blond gave her another cigarette, but this time she noticed the two very shocked boys sitting right behind her chair before sitting down.

"Danny, Tucker, what are you doing here?" She asked, surprised.

"We… wanted… to see you?" Danny tried, but Sam wasn't convinced. She walked over the exit, leaving them to follow her. Danny hid the flowers behind him and rushed after her.

"Danny," Tucker whispered, so that Sam wouldn't hear. "She's smoking."

"I noticed, Tuck."

They stood on the sidewalk, where Sam was waiting for them, still with that cigarette in between her fingers.

"I thought you two didn't like poetry." She said, simply, acting completely normal.

"We don't." Danny managed to smile. "But we just wanted to say we're sorry for being such jerks and that we wish you a very happy or Gothic birthday." He showed her the roses and it was Sam's turn to be shocked.

"You bought me flowers?" She stated the obvious because there was nothing else she could say.

"Well, you're Goth, depressive and indifferent, but you're still a girl." Tucker said. "We thought you'd like some fluffy stuff."

It took Sam only awkward minutes to manage to answer them. She smiled and jumped on their necks, giving them a big group hug.

"This is the best birthday gift ever!"

"Good." Danny said. "Now you can put out that cigarette so we can go watch that movie."

"I'm not putting it out." Sam said, breaking the hug. "I'll finish it."

"I didn't know you smoke." Tucker said, noticing that Sam was being all defensive again. He really didn't want her to be upset.

"I do, rarely." She said, walking in the direction to the movie theater. "Mostly when I'm upset."

"You know, it's illegal for fourteen years old to smoke and drink, right?" Danny insisted.

"Fifteen please, and yes, I do, but it's not like anyone will catch me." But as soon as she said that they heard a siren and a police car stopped right next to them, blocking their way out of the club.

"Hey, kids." A policeman said, smiling broadly.

"Sam, you better run." The Goth at the door said, entering the bar and yelling for everyone to run.

"Great!" Sam said, sarcastically to no one in particular.

The next day Sam called Danny saying that she was already home, but she wasn't allowed to go out for a month. She didn't give him time to ask questions, she hung up quickly, not telling him how her parents reacted when she was taken home by the police. She just said that indeed, it had been her best birthday.

**Present Day**

It was Saturday morning and Danny hadn't slept the whole night. In his mind he kept replaying what Sam had said to him. She had left town because she was pregnant. He hadn't expected that answer, but in the middle of his shock he was overwhelmed by the realization that the revelation might be true.

As much as he liked to think he knew her better than anyone else in the world, she always seemed to surprise him somehow. It had never crossed his mind that she might have had a boyfriend while he was with Valerie, he had never bothered asking.

She was a girl of many surprises, like when she got a tattoo and got her tongue pierced. She also surprised in a bad way, disappointing him in the process like when she was drinking and smoking. She could show him how smart she was in her own depressive way.

He couldn't stop an inner voice from saying what he wanted to deny so hard 'if she smoked, drank why she couldn't have sex?'

He was feeling deeply, madly jealous. Who she had been with? Did she go away with him? Was he in Canada with their child at the moment?

Danny would drown in an ocean of questions he had no answer for. It was better just go talk to her or simply forget the subject. He had more reasons to forget, then to insist on the matter. First, he had nothing to do with her life; second, he was going to be even more disappointed. She said to him once that ignorance is bliss and now he couldn't agree more.

Another thing that he couldn't help was to imagine how her child was. Was it a boy or a girl? Did he have violet eyes? Was she a mini-Sam? That child must be adorable.

What kind of friend he was? He had to show Sam that he still cared for her. She once told him girls usually didn't say what they truly thought or what they meant. Maybe it was the time he went to her and showed her that he liked her no matter what. If she was as alone as she said she was, she needed a friend.

He had finally decided to go talk to her, after all that time he spent thinking. He stood up, opened the door of his room, descended the stairs, entered the kitchen and had breakfast with his family.

Jazz was a psychologist now and she immediately noticed that there was something wrong.

"Had a bad dream, Danny?" She asked.

"No, I don't think I dreamed at all. I'm just tired." He forced a yawn to prove his point.

"Okay…" She seemed to be satisfied with the answer, but kept looking at him funnily.

He finished his breakfast and stood up. He returned to his room, showered and dressed. He put on the watch Sam had given him long ago, it was just a mental help he thought she might need. He immediately went ghost and flew out of his window.

It had been long since he flew to Sam's house. The streets looked the same, same old trees, same old houses. He spotted the familiar house he hadn't entered for five years. It took all his will power to go invisible and enter the house.

The room was exactly as he remembered, except for the candles. There was no candle. The laptop was closed on the bedside table. The window was closed to keep the cold fall breeze out.

She was asleep on her bed, covered to her chin. Danny had to smile when he saw her. She looked exactly the same since the day he had last seen her, except for the longer hair, she hadn't changed. He felt his chest swell in warm emotions he hadn't felt in years.

He missed watching her sleep.

He turned himself visible and brushed the hair from her face. He turned human and bent down to kiss her lightly on the cheek. Her skin felt exactly the same.

The small peck was enough to make Sam wake up. She moved slightly before turning to her side and opening her eyes. She smiled when she saw him and Danny felt relief wash through him like cold water in a hot summer day, but the sensation lasted for about thirty seconds before Sam sat up on her bed, looking at him in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, so that her mother couldn't hear her.

"I wanted to talk to you." He whispered back. "Please?" He made his best puppy face that a few years ago she couldn't resist. She just groaned and stood up in a small violet silk nightshirt and closed the door, before returning to the bed, complaining about the cold.

"We can talk now." She said in a normal voice. "What you want?"

"Sam, please don't give me a cold shoulder." He begged. "You're still my best friend."

"I'm not giving you a cold shoulder, Danny; I just don't have anything to talk to you anymore." She said simply. Somewhere inside her she felt something crack.

"Listen," He tried to ignore her answer. "I just wanted to tell you that I'd like to see your child, even though you're not just a girl anymore, even though you're a mommy with responsibilities and stuff, I still want to be part of your life." He smiled at her in a comforting way, trying to melt the icy barrier she had built around herself.

"He…" She tried to say, but stopped abruptly. "His name is Allan." She reached for her wallet that was on her bedside table and got three pictures.

Danny felt his heart melt when he grabbed the pictures, sitting on the bed by Sam's side. The first picture was of a small baby with big violet eyes and dark hair being held on Sam's arms. Danny felt a hand on his shoulder and she leaned forward to look at the pictures with him. The second picture was of a small boy about one year old holding a plushy bunny. The third was the same boy with three years old sitting on Sam's lap, both smiling broadly at the camera.

"Is he in Canada?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"I'd like to meet this boy; he looks like a happy child." Danny said, kissing Sam on the top of her head. "I bet you're a wonderful mommy."

"Thank you." She smiled, sincerely, taking the pictures back and putting them in her wallet. They looked at each other for what seemed eternity before Sam finally said. "Did you really miss me, Danny?"

"So much that it seemed that I couldn't even breathe." He said. He noticed how full her lips were. Had they always been like that?

"I missed you, too." She held him tightly, letting one tear drop, but immediately hiding it.

"Sam, would I be impolite if I asked you who was he?" Danny popped the question that took the sleep away from him the whole night.

"I don't think I should tell you." Sam answered, looking down. "It's a sad story."

"Was he your boyfriend? At least tell me this." He begged.

"No, he wasn't." She said, sincerely, finally looking into his eyes to show him she wasn't lying. "We just shared one night, nothing else."

"Ok, I won't ask anymore about him." Danny said, grinning. "I wish I saw you with a big belly, eating everything in your fridge."

"Oh, don't remind me." She laughed, hitting him in the arm playfully.

"Tell me about the pregnancy, how was it?" He laid down on the bed, bringing her down with him, like they used to when they were alone.

"It was nice, I guess." She said. "My belly just started showing around the fourth month. I didn't gain much weight. I went to the doctor frequently to assure that everything was all right." She stopped and laughed as if she was remembering something very funny. "The first time the baby kicked I had a teacup on top of my stomach; he kicked so hard that the teacup fell on the floor."

"That must have hurt!" He laughed, too, tightening his embrace around her.

"It did, I was so scared that I called the doctor and she explained that the baby had just kicked." She smirked. "I was really mental that day. It was the first time I realized that there was another life inside of me."

"Were you alone all the time?" He asked. "Who took you to the hospital when it was time?"

"Nobody, I was in the kitchen when my water broke, it was gross by the way, and I quickly called a taxi. The driver helped me to the hospital and when I got there it took me five hours of killing contractions until that little angel was born." She said. "When I was in labor, I thought over and over again how much I hated being a woman and when I heard the cry… I mean… It was like all the pain was just washed away."

"I wish I was there to hold your hand." Danny said, without thinking. "Jazz said it helps."

"Well, I had a small plushy dog that I was squeezing, but it didn't help." She said.

"It's better when it's someone's knuckles you're cracking." He joked.

"It must be a real relief." She laughed, resting her cheek on his chest. "I'm glad you're not disgusted." She said, becoming serious again.

"Why would I be?" Danny asked, confused.

"When I said at the park that I was pregnant I thought you'd think of me like a slut or something. I didn't think you'd come here and ask about Allan."

"You surprised me." Danny said, sighing. "But I could never think badly of you."

"Thank you." She whispered, finally allowing herself to cry.

Danny held her in his arms, saying that everything was all right now. He was glad he could hold her in his arms again and he was even gladder that she wasn't pushing him away.

"I have to go back to Canada." She said in a muffed voice into his sweater. "In three days."

"Do you think you could find a job in Amity Park?" Danny patted her back. "In the Affluence Magazine, maybe, you could bring Allan and I could help you to take care of him."

"I can't stay here, Danny." She replied. "It brings me memories I want to avoid."

"I want you back in my life." He said sincerely. "I can't let you walk away again."

Sam shot up, looking at him as if she had seen a ghost (no jokes). She bit her lower lip so hard it bled. Her eyes were wide and her face much paler then thirty seconds before.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked, sitting up, too, scared that she might be having a stroke or something.

"I can't be with you." She explained, tears filling her eyes once more. "I can't stay here."

Danny sighed. It was difficult. He had to understand why she couldn't be with him. At that moment he realized how much he loved her and she so stubbornly pushed him away.

"Are the memories that bad?" He asked. "Was your father the reason you couldn't stay?"

"I knew you'd figure part of it out sooner or later." Sam said, wiping her tears. "He caught me doing the pregnancy test and was furious."

"I can imagine, he wasn't the friendly type." Danny commented. "But he didn't beat you, did he?"

"He slapped me." She finally said. Danny couldn't find words. "And that night I heard him shouting at my mother that he wanted me to go away to some institution, so I decided to go away. He wanted me to have an abortion."

"You should have told me." Danny said. "I would have helped you."

"How could I tell you?" Sam looked at him angrily. "You were so busy with Valerie that you barely saw me!"

"That's not true, Sam, I always had time for you." Danny defended himself.

"Yeah, on the Friendly Tuesdays you always spent playing videogames." She pointed, sarcastically.

"Listen, it's not right, I don't want to fight with you." Danny stopped before they had another faithful fight and he never saw her again.

"Danny, I can't stay and that's final." She said, standing up and opening her wardrobe. "You don't need a depressive friend on your heels." She pointed out.

When she reached to open the wardrobe Danny caught a glimpse of a scar on her wrist. His mind went completely blank when he confirmed that it was indeed a scar, a very deep one. He couldn't say if he was furious or extremely disappointed. It felt like a stab on the heart.

"I want you to be happy, Danny." Sam continued. "I'm not good for you and I want you to find the right girl, marry her and have tons of babies. I want you to be so much happy…" but her words died on her lips when she felt Danny's hand gripping her left wrist tightly.

She looked down at his hand; he was gripping her so strongly that she could feel the bruises. It was when she noticed what he was looking at.

**This is the biggest chapter, yet! I hope you enjoy it… I felt like ending the chapter when she revealed the pregnancy to Danny, but I changed my mind, I like to torture my readers with cliffhangers, but that would be cruel. Lol. Since I'm so nice to you, what about lots and lots of reviews? They're like candy to me, I can't get enough! **


	5. Chapter 5

_**Surprise! This chapter is special because I'm mixing two of my fanfics, I decided to make 'Tattoo' a part of 'Torn' so, you can consider this a sequel, prequel and the development of that sweet moment Danny and Sam shared. **_

Chapter Five

**Five years Ago**

"Sam, please take off these batwings." Danny complained seeing Sam completely covered up while the three of them decided to go once more to the Floody Waters in the hottest day of the summer. Really, Danny was cooking just by looking at her.

"I don't fancy getting a tan, thank you very much." She replied, while sitting down patiently in a small corner where the sunlight wasn't reaching.

"You know, you wouldn't be less 'Goth' if you got a bit tanned. We came here for fun." Tucker said, teasing her. He had come to plan, with Danny early that morning, that today they would get Sam to enjoy the pool with them; besides, she was the only who had never gone through the wild ride in the Terror Mountain.

"I'm not on your way, Tucker." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "You can have fun without me. Now, you two go ahead and splash yourselves to death." She yelled, angrily, turning around and going to a even darker place enjoy the rest of her day cooling down away from the stupid hot sun.

"It's going to be a bit more complicated than we thought." Tucker said to Danny, watching Sam retracting to the girl's bathroom.

"I think it's not just about the tan she's worried about." Danny said, suspiciously. "She walks around in sunlight normally; I think it's something else."

"Maybe she's just paranoid about her looks." Tucker suggested. "I heard girls have tons of complexes about that."

"But it's not a 'girl', Tuck, she's Sam, she's different." Danny said, rising up his hands, still watching the bathroom, to see if Sam was coming out anytime soon.

"Yes, she's different." Tucker pondered. "But she's still a girl."

Tucker had a point. Danny decided that he had to talk to Sam before they came to wrong conclusions. Whatever he was going to do, he didn't want Tucker to see it, so he just walked away, leaning against the wall next to the door of the girl's bathroom.

Tucker watched in the distance, deciding he would be better if he just entered the pool and left the two lovebirds alone.

The door opened and Sam walked out, looking refreshed and was definitely smelling good. She didn't expect to see Danny waiting for her. She had just thought that he and Tucker had gone for some fun and forgotten her like they usually did.

"Hey, Sam." Danny said, like he was seeing her for the first time in the day.

"Danny, you don't have to be with me, go ahead and have fun, I'm all right, really." Sam said, smiling encouragingly at him.

"I'll go, but before that I wanted to ask you something." Danny just had a brilliant plan popping up on his mind.

"I know what you're going to ask," She grinned. "But no, I haven't seen Valerie here."

"I wasn't going to ask that!" Danny blushed. "I was going to ask if your problem with the sun is just because of tan."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confusedly.

"Well, you're a girl and you're beautiful, I think you don't need to hide yourself under these batwings." Danny smiled, doing his best to keep himself from blushing.

It took Sam a whole minute to process what he was telling her. It was true she was shy in walking around in a swimsuit near her two best friends who just in case were boys. It wasn't that she wasn't comfortable with them; it was just that they were boys, best friends, but still boys. They would glance at her, she knew they would.

"Danny… I just…" Sam started, but Danny interrupted her.

"C'mon Sam, it's just Tucker and I." He smiled.

Sam smiled, too, rolling her eyes and giving up. Maybe she could trust them, after all. Even if they looked at her a bit differently, well, it meant she was attractive, right? No reason to feel uncomfortable. She took off her hat and her covers.

Tucker, inside the pool, couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't know what Danny had said, but Sam had just taken out her batwings and was looking completely hot in a red bikini.

Danny had to hold his breathe when he saw how stunning his best friend looked. He was expecting her to be beautiful, but not THAT beautiful. He tried to calm down in racing heart, the last thing he wanted was to make Sam feel uncomfortable.

"See, isn't it much better?" He managed to laugh.

"I guess." She replied, blushing. "I'll race you to the pool." She said and started running before Danny had the chance to move.

As soon as she turned around, Danny had a view that made his heart beat wildly inside his chest. His brain went completely blank and he completely forgot how to run. In Sam's back, right bellow her bikini was a tattoo.

A hot tattoo of a black butterfly.

Sam jumped on the pool right beside Tucker, splashing him on the way in. She broke into the surface, smiling cheerfully. She opened her eyes and saw that both Tucker and Danny were staring at her like they had never seen her before.

"What?" She blushed.

"Sam…" Danny said, his voice failing.

"What?" She repeated, looking at her dumbfounded best friends. She blushed, wondering if she had done something wrong; was her bikini still on? Yes, it was. Why were they looking at her like that?

"When did you get THAT?" Tucker asked from behind her, pointing at her back.

Sam had almost forgotten the tattoo on her back. She sighed in relief when she realized it was just that. She had never told them, had she? She must have forgotten.

"Oh, you mean my tattoo?" She laughed, sitting up on the edge of the pool, while Danny sat by her side, putting his legs on the water. Tucker swam next to them to hear what Sam was going to say.

"I did." Danny replied, looking at the tattoo again and again. For some reason that look incredibly sexy.

"I got it when my grandmother signed an authorization for me. I went to the Punk Street and got one. It was about two or three months ago." She smiled. "Does it look good?"

"Yea." Danny managed to say.

"It looks hot, Sam." Tucker replied, looking at Danny who seemed to be in 'la-la land' just like when he usually sees Paulina, or Valerie. "Looks like Danny is enchanted…" He laughed making Sam blush and Danny snap out of his dream.

"I have always expected you to do wild stuff, but a tattoo?" Danny said, still staring.

"I also have a piercing that I wasn't showing…" She blushed and opened her mouth to show them her pierced tongue. "And another tattoo that my decent bikini hides." She teased them, even though she couldn't help but blush.

"Wow!" Tucker said, flinching at the sight of her tongue. "You must like to torture yourself." He shivered. "I wouldn't go near anywhere I could get pierced… and tattooed."

"It hurts a little…" Sam said. "But it is worth it." She smiled.

Danny didn't know if he was either sleeping or hallucinating. She had been hiding under her Goth clothes! Her tattoo looked great! He wondered how the other one looked like… but he didn't dare ask.

"It looks good on you." Danny said, blushing.

"Oh, please." Tucker looked disgusted, said something about 'blushy moments' and got away from them, looking for a girl to offer his skills on mouth-to-mouth.

"Really, Tuck needs to stop doing that." Sam laughed.

"Yeah, it's awkward." Danny agreed, not realizing that his hand was resting on Sam's thigh. When he noticed he looked up to her, if she realized his daring hand, she didn't complain about it. He pretended to scratch his head, so that he took his hand away.

"Well…" She blushed. "Thanks for today." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "It was the first time I enjoyed this stupid park."

Danny completely melted into that small kiss. He didn't say a word; he just sat there, watching her walk away. Danny just realized one thing at the moment: he loved her taste in tattoos.

**Seven Years Ago**

"I think we shouldn't wait for Tucker anymore, he's half an hour late." Sam pointed out.

She and Danny were lying on the roof of Danny's house in a hot summer day, waiting for Tucker to show up with his the coordinates in his PDA so that they could start star-gazing for real, you know, like professionals.

"What's the point? We don't know how to find the stars without a map and the numbers; we'll have to wait Tucker." Danny sighed in boredom.

"If he doesn't show up in five minutes I'm so out of here." Sam said, sitting up. Danny reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her back down beside him.

"He'll come, he's always late." He said. "Besides I think it's the best time to tell you something." He said, nervously.

"Tell me what?" She asked curiously.

"I wanted to ask you about our fake-out-make-outs." He said.

"What about them?" She asked again, not getting his point.

"Have you felt anything when we kissed?" He finally blurted out.

"You mean fireworks, singing voices in the background etcetera, etcetera?" She asked, looking at him as if he was asking something hilarious.

"Not really, I just wondered if you felt anything other than lips pressing together." He blushed.

Sam lifted herself in one elbow, leaning over him.

"People say you feel _it_ when you kiss someone you really like." She giggled. "You won't feel _it_ with me because we're just friends." She explained.

Danny reached up a tentatively hand and pulled her face gently toward his. He saw her eyes widening in shock before he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers. They were just experimenting, Danny reassured himself. Her lips parted under his and he tested the feeling of her tongue on his.

Yes, he could feel something exploding in the back of his head, something familiar to fireworks, but they weren't exactly what he thought it would be. He felt Sam giggling against his lips and she pulled away, still giggling like a prep girl and not like herself.

"See what I mean?" She said, when she was going to tell him what she had felt, Tucker pushed the door opened.

"I'm sorry, but by neighbor's dog almost ate my PDA." He noticed how close his best friends were. "Have I interrupted another blushy moment?" He grinned.

"Not exactly." Sam stood up, laughing. "There's no reason for blushy moments anymore, right Danny?"

"Right." Danny agreed and they spent the rest of the night star gazing. Danny couldn't take out of his head how wonderful Sam felt, but at the same time, how horrible it would be to risk something other than friendship with her. They could lose everything.

**One Year Ago**

"Samantha, can you hear me?"

Sam heard a woman's voice near her ear; she felt a soft hand shaking her shoulders gently. Her head was pounding painfully; her body was so heavy that it took a lot of strength to open her eyelids.

"Oh, you're finally awake." The woman, said. Sam noticed that she was a nurse and that she was very old, she had a grandma smile.

"What happened?" Sam asked, confused.

"I was hoping you could tell us that." The nurse said, looking at Sam's stomach where her hands were.

Sam realized the sharp pain that came from her wrist. Like a waterfall, all the memories washed over her. Her father, the pregnancy, Allan and the horrible pain she was always feeling. She hadn't succeeded even ending it all.

"How did I end here?" She asked.

"Your neighbor heard a scream and broke into your apartment just in time." The nurse said. "Why would you do that, Samantha?"

Sam looked away, not bearing to look into the eyes of someone who she had never seen before and that looked so concerned for her.

"Because it hurts." Sam answered. "I should have died."

"Well, the hospital called your boss and he was very concerned, he said you could take all the time you needed." Sam felt very ashamed. Everyone in the magazine knew already. "You'll go talk to a psychiatrist first thing in the morning and he will decide what's best for you."

"You mean he'll see if I'm insane enough to be sent to a mental hospital." Sam laughed bitterly. "I hit the bottom."

"You can work your way up if you really want to," The nurse said, replacing the blood sack on the hanger beside the bed, "You look like a very strong woman. Anyway, I just wanted to ask you if there's anyone you'd like us to call, family, friends…"

"No, I don't have family and friends." Sam said simply.

"Okay." The nurse answered uncertainly. "Feel free to call me if you need anything."

When the woman left the room, Sam looked around for anything sharp she could use, but she found nothing. The nurses were smart.

**Present Day**

"Sam, what is this scar?" Danny asked, already knowing the answer.

"Danny, you're hurting me." Sam said.

Danny's eyes widened when he realized her wrist was turning blue. He immediately let go of her and she rubbed her wrist, making him feel completely guilty. But he didn't forget why he was so mad in the first place. Her scar didn't look old.

"Sam…" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Have you tried to kill yourself?"

"It's none of your business, Danny!" She hissed. "Listen," She shrugged and put a hand on his shoulder, firmly, "Danny, please forget what you saw, in three days I'm outta here for good and you shouldn't worry about something you can't do anything about. So just forget it."

She could see all the despair he was feeling mirrored in his eyes. Just by looking at him she noticed how difficult it was to breathe or speak. He looked confined in a shell of pain of realization that she didn't feel for him what he felt for her.

"In these five years I lived without you…" Danny started. "I realized what an idiot I have been to let you go."

"Danny you don't have to tell me these things." Sam said, exasperated. "You're hurting yourself."

"Please, let me finish." Danny interrupted her. Tears were falling down his eyes, dripping on his shirt. "I realized that for the longest time I have been in love with you, maybe even when I was with Valerie. That night when he kissed on the roof, I saw the fireworks you were talking about."

"No, you didn't." Sam said, refusing to believe him. "You think you did; you thought that if I came back you things would get better, I understand it." She said almost crying too. "People usually puts faith in things that they can't get, it's a psychological game the mind plays so that they can bear each day of their miserable lives; but Danny, you don't love me. Love doesn't exist. Things never get better."

"What happened to you, Sam?" He held her tightly. "I'm not saying that you must love me back, I just want to say that I love you and I can't live without you. Just please keep in touch and please don't do anything stupid." He begged, his fingers slowly caressing the scar on her wrist.

"I've been through a lot. I'm sorry I don't feel ready to talk about lots of things, but…"

"I don't want to let you go back to Canada." Danny said, suddenly. "If I let you go, I'm afraid you'll die."

"Well, that decision is not in your hands." She explained carefully.

"Sam, even if I have to stalk you, I won't let you go back there and kill yourself. What about your son? Are you going to leave him a orphan?" He was slowly loosing his ability to think.

"You're sweet." Was all that Sam said, before stepping away from him and leaving the room.

"Samantha Manson…" Danny whispered to himself. "I'm not giving up on you."

**I'm sorry for the small chapter, but it's the best place to stop before the twists and turns that are to come. By the way, I didn't know about the Valetine's Day, in my country we celebrate it on 12th June (here we call it Boy/Girlfriend Day) so I guess I missed the opportunity to get the chapter on the fluffy mood. **

**Please review and tell what you think of this chapter! I'm doing my best to improve my English, I swear.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Present Day**

Danny had finished packing a small bag and put it around his shoulders. Jazz was sitting on his room, watching him carefully. He had told her everything that had happen between him and Sam. He had told her Sam had a baby, that she had a scar on her wrist and that she had completely ignored him when he said he loved her.

Jazz said that Sam was going through something hard and that she didn't want to change anything. She could be trapped in an abusive relationship and not wanting to leave her son behind. Well, if that was the reason she still wanted to go back there, Danny was going to follow her and beat the shit out whoever was hurting her.

"Really, what you're doing is stalking, Danny, even though you want to help her, you need her permission." Jazz said, seeing that he had finished packing.

"She won't see me. I'll be invisible to whole time and if it turns out okay, if she's fine living there I'll come back and she'll never know I was there in the first place." Danny answered. "I need to know what she's been going through or else I'll never sleep again."

"Just, please come back as soon as possible, I don't know how long I can fool our parents."

"I'll be back at one week top, even if I don't find anything, I'll return next Monday, I promise."

"Fine, just be careful." Jazz said. "You better hurry and fly to the airport, Sam's plane leaves in half an hour."

"Great, I'll go. Bye sis." And he turned invisible, flying out of his house to the airport.

He flew through the doors, through the waiting lines and heard a woman saying that the plane for Toronto, Canada, would be leaving in fifteen minutes at gate eleven. He flew to the gate, quickly making several papers fly out of people's hands, just like he was a very strong breeze.

He saw Sam sitting on a chair, with her tickets in hands, waiting to go on board. He stood up by her side, studding her actions. Somehow, out of curiosity, he wanted to know everything about her. She was wearing a green casual dress and on her lap she had an opened book with the Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.

Danny resisted the urge to touch her face, she'd notice he was there, she always recognized his invisible touch.

He sat by her side on the empty seat during the flight, she didn't look like she was hurting for having to go back to her own house, actually she looked almost relieved.

It took them three hours to reach Canada and when the plane landed, Sam looked a lot paler than normal; Danny saw her rush to the bathroom and heard as she emptied her stomach. Something was definitely wrong with her.

She grabbed her handbag and walked out of the plane and after the airport. On the street she called a taxi. Danny immediately flew inside with her, barely having time to admire the country he had never visited.

The taxi took about ten minutes to stop in front of a beautiful building in a rich neighborhood. Danny got out of the car following Sam inside the elevator and inside her apartment. It was a big and cozy apartment.

It was completely empty. Nobody was home. That wasn't another man and there wasn't a child.

He was completely confused.

Sam sat down on the cough, sighed and started crying desperately as if her heart had just been ripped out. He wanted to go there and hug her, but he wanted to see where it was going to end and if he showed himself now everything would be ruined.

The living room had small modern furniture of very bright colors. Sam was crying on the cough, the huge high definition TV was turned off and there was no sign that things were going to change for hours.

The room had a big broken mirror, a queen size bed and a big wardrobe. There was another room right next to that, and Danny saw that it was locked and decided to phase in. He turned on the lights and saw a beautiful child's room.

There were clowns everywhere, colorful toys, small racing cars, and a big crib right beside an oversized ball. It was an adorable room, but why was it locked? He saw frames hanging on the wall with pictures of Allan and Sam, very happy, smiling, and playing. There was one in particular that caught his attention. Allan was in a pool holding tightly on Sam as she taught him how to swim.

He heard noises coming from the kitchen and immediately flew there to see what Sam was doing. He found her separating pills of different colors and placing them on the table. There were about fifteen pills.

He had already decided that if she was going to take them all he was turning himself visible and would stop her. But she just let the pills there; she went to her room, grabbed a purse and left the apartment.

He followed her to the garage. He saw that she owned a convertible mustang and grinned. She was the type of girl who liked good cars. He sat by her side and noticed that she was driving a bit faster than necessary.

Danny didn't notice where they were going; when he decided to look around he noticed a green field. Far away, on top of a hill, he saw a big cherry tree.

A cherry tree can be a very be very beautiful thing to see when completely blossomed. From the distance it can look like a cloud and when you look at it closely it's amazing that every flower had a breathtaking beauty.

The place was extremely romantic, Danny noticed. There was nothing more perfect then sit with the girl you love under a cherry tree and spend the day speaking silliness and laughing at the smallest things. He woke up from his tree gazing when he noticed Sam had parked the car and was climbing the hill.

What lay on the other side of that hill? Was that a cliff? Was she going to jump?

His heart was beating wildly inside his chest. He flew next to her, ready to catch her if she decided to jump, ready to do anything it would be necessary to keep her safe. He was going to be her guardian angel for as long as she needed.

It took him three seconds to understand why she had tried to kill herself, why she was depressive and why she didn't want to talk about it. Just behind the cherry tree was a grave covered in grass. Sam sat against the tree trunk and closed her eyes.

Danny walked around the grave and read the name on the tombstone: Allan Manson.

**Five Years Ago**

Danny was navigating on the internet with nothing to do while Valerie exercised on his room, when he found a blog called Gothic Life, the thoughts of a Teen Goth. He immediately thought that was a nice site that maybe Sam would like to see it. He copied the link and was about to send her by email when the noticed two familiar names on the latest post.

".._. There's only one day that we separated to be for just the three of us: Friendly Tuesday. We go from school to Nasty Burger and stay there for about an hour or two. Sometimes we go to play videogames at Tucker's house, but we don't go to the park, theater or my house anymore. The reason of all this is that both Danny and Tucker found themselves girlfriends…"_

'That's Sam's web journal!' He thought, surprised that she had a diary; she didn't look like girls who'd spend their days writing about their miserable lives thinking they were amazing.

The doorbell rang and Valerie went to answer it, feeling completely normal at it like the house was hers. He didn't mind, really, but if Jazz was in the house she'd give him a speech about limits of a relationship and how to be polite and not let your girlfriend answer your house's door.

He resumed reading Sam's journal, but hadn't gone far when Valerie called him from downstairs saying that Sam was at the door. He quickly ran to her and saw that she looked very disturbed.

It was when they had their small fight and Sam drove away. Valerie was really upset and decided to go to her own house and leave Danny to think about the situation, because he really needed to.

Danny returned to his room hours later. He noticed the computer on and remembered what he had been doing. He sat down in front of the screen and read the whole post.

He sighed heavily when he finished reading that. She had written that one month before and she hadn't updated since then. He read it over and over again, not believing how stupid he had been. She had written it, she had written that she was suffering and he had been too blind to actually see it. Now the only thing that remained was a virtual line that explained everything to him '_this stupid loneliness is killing me.'_

He had left her alone.

He had hurt her.

She didn't look lonely that night a month ago, the night she had written the post. She was singing, she looked happy and she looked like she was going to make a very good carrier. She had sung an Italian song. What was the name of it?

Tucker had just signed in on IM.

_FryTuck: Good news, man: Star agreed on going on double date Friday night. _

_DFenton: Tuck, do you have that video of Sam singing with you? _

_FryTuck: Sure, I'll send you. BTW, why do you want it?_

_DFenton: I just had a bad feeling. _

Danny clicked on the link Tucker sent him and started downloading the video. It'd take around five minutes to complete.

_FryTuck: Is it something serious? _

_DFenton: I think it is. She was here a few hours ago and started crying. We sort of had a fight. _

_FryTuck: That's bad, man. Why do you need the video anyway? _

_DFenton: I wanted to find the lyrics of the music she sang. _

_FryTuck: The Phantom of the Opera or the Italian one?_

_DFenton: the Italian, of course. _

_FryTuck: Let me see if I still have the flyer here. _

While Tucker looked for flyer, the download was completed and Danny opened the file. She had looked beautiful that night. But unfortunately he couldn't understand a single word she was saying and there was no way he could find the lyrics like that.

_FryTuck: I found it. It's spelled 'Certe Notti'. Does it sound familiar or anything?_

_DFenton: Thanks. I'm going to find out. _

He opened another window for the internet and searched for the translation of the lyrics for the music Certe Notti. It took fifteen sites and ten minutes to find a good translation. His stomach dropped. He didn't know if it was intentional, but Sam had given him a sign of what she was going to do a month before.

_FryTuck: found it?_

_DFenton: Yeah… take a look at this: 'Some nights, the car is warm and you will go wherever it will take you/ some nights the road doesn't matter, what matters is to listen that you're going away/ some nights the radio that plays Neil Young seems to understand who is listening to it/ some nights are addicting and you never want to give it up/ _

_And you can stay alone in some nights here/ it's possible be content like this, like this/ some nights or I wake up or I'll never raise again/ we're going to see each other at Mario' someday. _

_FryTuck: Who's Mario?_

_DFenton: It doesn't matter, it's part of the lyrics, but the thing here is, the message. She said she's going away. _

_FryTuck: and do you think she's capable of that? Really, Sam's scared to cross the town by car; do you think she'll go on some road trip? _

_DFenton: when she left my house today she had lots of luggage on her car and she didn't take the street for her house. _

_FryTuck: shit man… _

_DFenton: My thoughts exactly. _

_FryTuck: Can you get me the journal link?_

_DFenton: Yeah… _(and he copied down the URL)

_FryTuck: I can't access it. How did you get into her private account?_

_DFenton: Wait! I can't get back in, too. _

_FryTuck: Maybe you accessed the site when the server had problems, well, whatever, we can't read her journal unless we have her password. _

_DFenton: I don't think she's going to update it for a long time._

**Present Day**

Jazz was laying on the cough reading the new book by Laura Kipnis when the phone rang. She reached for the phone and answered it calmly.

"Hello?"

"Jazz, I need your help!" Danny sounded frantic.

"What happened?" She sat up straight, her book falling on the ground.

"It's Sam! She's not in a relationship at all. Oh, for goodness' sake, her son died last year!" Danny said. His voice was failing him, like he was feeling all the pain Sam had been through he realized how much she was suffering and he couldn't do anything about it. How could he say to her that things would be better when her son had just died? He wasn't coming back!

"Allan died!" Jazz sounded as skeptical as he was when he read the name on the grave. It seemed impossible; it was like a tragedy to big to be true.

"What do I do? She locked herself in her apartment again and won't stop crying! I need to do something, Jazz." He cried.

"Has she seen you?" Jazz asked, trying to calm herself down and rationalize.

"Not yet."

"Usually I'd say it'd be for the better to remain invisible, but she's over the edge…" She stopped for a second or two. "You better knock on her door and say try to gain her trust enough to let her open up with you, she can't be alone; she needs distractions."

"Thank you, Jazz"

"And keep in touch; we don't know what might happen." She insisted.

"I will, don't worry."

"Listen, you wait ten minutes before knocking on her door, do you have her telephone number?"

"No, but I have her address you can look at the internet." And Danny told her the address. "Are you going to call her now?"

"I'll call her and say her mother gave me her number and I'll tell her that you are missing, okay?"

"And I just show up at her doorstep?"

"Yes, but wait at least ten minutes to show up, she must get a little worried first." Jazz explained.

"Fine, I'll wait for you call, then."

"Bye, Danny. Good luck."

**Five Years Ago**

The day Danny had seen Sam naked in front of him, they had gone out to the Nasty Burger. She paid for the two Sundays to replace the ones Danny had dropped in surprise on her floor.

Danny sat on the table, waiting for her to return with the ice creams. He dared to think for a few moment how cute her other tattoo looked. It was placed just above her pelvis and was a small elegant letter that was written 'Carpe Diem'.

Sam sat in front of him and gave him his ice cream. When he noticed her sitting there he blushed various shades of red. She looked at him oddly, but decided to not ask, but when he wouldn't stop blushing or even dared to look at her eyes she thought it was better just ask.

"What's wrong now?"

Danny chocked on his ice cream when he heard her question. He couched madly for about five minutes before finally returning to normal.

"So…?" She insisted.

"I sort of saw your other tattoo…" Danny said. He knew he was close to a nosebleed.

"Is that all?" She laughed. Danny noticed that she blushing, too. "Well, now you know." She smiled.

"It looks beautiful." He said before he could stop himself.

Sam blushed and turned to look away.

"Thank you." She replied. "Don't tell Tucker."

"I won't. I understand now why you didn't want to show us." He smiled.

"It's very indecent…" She agreed.

"Wait a minute!" Danny suddenly realized something very disturbing. "Who tattooed you?"

"Some guy at Punk Street, why?" She played dumb with him; she loved torturing him by making him say everything he was thinking.

"Why?" He repeated, frustrated. "He saw and touched a lot to make that tattoo!" Danny said.

"Jealous?" She asked, innocently, playing with her hair.

"I wouldn't call it 'jealousy'" Danny defended himself with dignity. "I'm concerned, that's all."

"Right, because your girlfriend would breathe fire if she heard about your jealously." Sam said in a sing song voice. "Actually, I think she'd be mad if she heard about something that happened in my room today…"

"Don't even think about it!" Danny said, becoming really worried and looking around to see if anybody had heard her.

"Relax; I'm not going to tell her, it's just between us." She smiled. "You can trust me, even though I have this great blackmail in my hands I don't intend on using it unless it's very necessary."

"It'll never be necessary." Danny said quickly.

Sam was going to reply him when her cell phone rang. She picked up and answered happily.

"Hello."

"Sam?" It was her father.

"Hi dad, I was wondering where you were." She said, making Danny sit up tense just by acknowledging that her father was on the phone. Really, that man gave him the creeps. Danny saw as Sam's face became a lot paler and her eyes filled with tears. "Now? But… when did it happen? Fine, I'm going." And the hung up.

She sat up in completely control of herself for three seconds before placing her arms on the table, bending down and crying hysterically.

"Sam, what happened?" Danny asked her, worriedly.

"My grandma passed away." She told him.

"Now?" He asked, confused. "That's why your parents weren't home then."

"He said she was unconscious in the morning and they ran to the hospital, she died just now." She explained. 'I wanted her to go to the audition' she thought bitterly. 'I started taking lessons because of her'.

"Come on, Sam" Danny helped her up. "I'm going to take you to the hospital; you need to be with your parents now."

"Oh Danny, I don't want her to die." She sobbed on his chest.

Now she had nobody else to talk to her aside from Danny and Tucker. The stupid world had just decided that she'd have to be alone.

**Angst… Yeah, I had to write it. I know some of you want to kill me now, but… well, just be patient and keep reading. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**Five Years Ago**

"I can't believe Sam invited us to a punk party." Tucker said when he looked at the people around the big house they were in. It was past midnight and the music was too loud to be legal.

"Well, at least she was nice to warn us that maybe Valerie and Star wouldn't like it here." Danny looked at the punch table where there was gallons of alcoholic drinks and a skull (that wasn't real, he hoped). "I know Sam's style, but this is a bit exaggerated."

"Danny! Tucker!" Sam found them in the crowd. She was holding a cup with a red drink and her a cigarette in the other hand.

If Danny had been mad when he had seen her smoking on her fifteen's birthday (he had never seen her drinking or smoking after that and it had been one year and a few months ago) he was furious when he saw her doing that again and walking in a crowd wearing only a bathing suit.

"What is going on here?" He asked in a jealousy rage.

Sam looked surprise for a few minutes before shaking off whatever was going on in her head and resuming her good mood.

"I had never been a party like this." She laughed. "It rocks!"

"I think it's dangerous." Danny said, grabbing the cigarette from her hand and putting it off on he ground. "And you shouldn't smoke."

"Uh… Sam… are you okay?" Tucker asked, a bit more gently then Danny.

"I'm great." Sam laughed. "Really, you two don't have to be overprotective, I'm sixteen, and I can take care of myself." She ended her drink in one gulp and grabbed their hands pulling them towards the backyard. "There's a pool back there, it's great! Swimming in the night is the best thing ever."

"It's a good thing we didn't bring the girls." Tucker said to Danny in private. "They already hate Sam; I don't even want to imagine what they'd think after this."

"I think Sam is overdoing it." Danny said, seriously, as they found a couple of chairs to sit down. "Who would invite her here, anyway? She doesn't have friends."

"That guy would." Tucker pointed to a blonde man who was talking to Sam. "Isn't he the same from the Gothic Poetry stuff?"

"Yeah, I think he is." Danny said.

Both boys watched as the man joked around with Sam, asked her to say one or two poetries and after that, grabbed her by her legs tossing her over his shoulder playfully and jumped into the pool. Danny gritted his teeth in anger.

"Hey, man, do you still have a thing for Sam?" Tucker asked, watching him closely.

"If I am overprotective, yes, if I love her, no. I am with Valerie." Danny answered, simply. "I just think Sam has way passed the decency line."

Five minutes after an uncomfortable silence, Sam bounced happy towards them, sitting down in between them, making sure she wetted their shirts as much as possible.

"Thank you so much, Sam." Tucker said, sarcastically.

"Who is that blonde?" Danny asked, not minding his wet friend.

"That's Jason, I met him last year and we hung out a couple of times in the club. He just decided to invite me over. He's a nice guy. He's a vegetarian, too." She pointed out, grinning.

"Are you two together?" Danny asked.

"No, we're just friends…" She said.

"He likes to touch a bit too much for a friend." Danny replied.

"Well, yeah… but he didn't see me naked." She looked at Danny incredulously. Was he really jealous? He had no right to be jealous when he was with Valerie in the first place.

"Wait! You saw her naked?" Tucker got really interested in the discussion.

"It was an accident." Danny said. "I didn't want to look!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but other people may think it's a very interesting sight." Sam stood up, angrily and marched away back to group of boys where Jason was.

"Way to go, man." Tucker said, sighing in frustration. "I thought I was going to enjoy tonight."

"So did I. Maybe we should go." Danny suggested.

"I don't think we should leave her here." Tucker said, pointing at the group, Jason had just poured her another glass of whatever she was drinking. She finished the cup glass with one quick gulp and people applauded amazed.

"That's it!" Danny said, standing up. "Tuck, you go wait in the car, I'm going ghost and dragging her out of here."

Tucker didn't say anything; he quickly walked out of the house. Danny entered in the bathroom and went ghost. He was so angry at Sam in that moment that he completely forgot that he had to go intangible before phasing through the door. He finally flew around the house until he saw Sam.

She was laying on the cough pressing a hand on her forehead. Of course she was dizzy, how much had she drunk anyway? He put one arm around her back and another around her knees before flying out of the party to the car that Tucker had already started.

"Why the hell did you kidnap me?" Sam shouted angrily, as they became visible again at the back seat. Tucker drove silently through the dark streets listening to the conversation.

"Because." Danny said simply. Sam noticed how worried he was, but he had no right to take her away from a party. "That's not you, Sam. The Sam I know doesn't drink or smoke." He pressed his palms to her cheek, looking into her eyes like he was trying to find an answer to her behavior in them.

"The Sam you know is not a fourteen years old girl anymore." Sam pointed out. "I'm sorry I had to grow up."

"That's not what I mean, Sam."

"Listen, Danny, you're not my father, okay?"

"I know, but I care about you."

"Funny, you don't seem to realize I exist when you're with Valerie." Sam said.

"So it is about Valerie now? Well, I'm sorry if you're not the only girl in my life, I had to grow up, too!"

"So we end this conversation now, I won't complain about Valerie and you won't complain about my parties!"

"The difference is that my relationship won't make me sick!"

"It's my health and if I decide to fucking die before I'm thirty, I can do that because it's my life!"

"Fine, do whatever you want." Danny yelled, "But never invite me to a party like that again!"

"Don't worry; I won't invite you to anything else ever again."

Three months later, Sam invited him to the audition.

**Two Years Ago**

Sam woke up with a thunder. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was in her apartment, in her bed and it was past midnight. She heard the door creaking open slowly and lifted her head to see her three years old son running into the room and jumping on her bed.

She smiled and held him closer.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, softly, kissing his head.

"Thunder." He replied, hiding his face on her chest when he heard another one.

"You're a big boy; you can't be scared of a thunder." She said, brushing his hair softly with her fingers.

"But it's loud!" Allan said, starting to cry.

"We can be louder than a thunder!" She said, sitting up and holding her crying baby on her arms. "When we hear it we'll scream as loud as we can and scare the thunder away."

Allan giggled and nodded. They waited about thirty seconds before they heard a loud thunder, Sam and Allan screamed loudly until it was over and laid back down laughing.

"See? I told you we could be louder." Sam laughed.

"Let's play, mommy!" Allan said, jumping up and down on the bed.

"It's past your bedtime." Sam said, watching the happy boy who didn't seem to be sleepy at all.

"Please! Let's play!"

"Fine, fine." She stood up and turned on the lights. "What do you want to play?"

"Fairy Tale!" Allan said, standing on the edge of the bed and opening his arms so that Sam would pick him up.

"Which fairy tale?" She asked picking him and carrying him to the living room.

"Snow-White. Put me down." Allan ran to the kitchen as soon as Sam put him on the ground and grabbed an apple. "I'm Prince Charming."

"And I'm supposed to be Snow White, right?" Sam asked, sitting down on the cough.

"Yes, you eat the apple." Allan put the fruit on Sam's hand. "And I'll save you."

"You can't be my Prince Charming." Sam teased. "You're too short, you're going to be a little dwarf."

"No, I'm Prince Charming!" Allan insisted, standing on a chair so that he'd be bigger. "See? I'm tall."

"Oh, okay, my dear Prince," Sam laughed, "But get down before you hurt yourself." Allan jumped to the ground, obediently and waited until his mommy decided to eat the apple. "Who will be the dwarfs?" She asked.

"My teddy bears." And he ran to his room, bringing back all the teddy bears he could carry.

"Fine, we have the dwarfs." Sam laughed. "Do I bite the apple now?"

"Yes."

And Sam took a small bite even though she wasn't hungry at all and pretended to choke. She fell down on the couch, pretending to be asleep. She opened one eye to watch what Allan was doing, he was crouching with the 'dwarfs' telling them to not cry because he was going to save the princess.

He climbed on top of her with an enormous difficulty with his small legs and arms and sat down on her stomach.

"Mommy? Can I kiss you on the nose instead?"

"Of course." She smiled and felt as his little lips touched the tip of her nose. She opened her eyes and grabbed him on her arms. "Oh my big Prince just saved me!" She said.

"Yeah! I'm strong and I saved you!"

"I think my big strong prince deserve some cookies and milk." She said. "Are you hungry?"

"Always hungry for cookies and milk." Allan replied, giggling as Sam carried him to kitchen pretending that he was an airplane.

"But after that you're going straight to bed. Mommy is tired." Sam yawned.

"Can I sleep with you?" He asked, sitting at the table, bouncing his feet happily while he waited for the cookies.

"As long as you don't wet the bed." Sam replied.

"I won't." Allan said, blushing. "I'm a big boy, I don't do that anymore."

"Fine then." She put a cup of milk and a plate full of cookies on the table. She watched adoringly as her mini version of herself ate the cookies enthusiastically.

"Sing Under the Sea!" Allan asked, with a milk mustache.

"I'm tired." Sam said, yawning, but when he pouted, she couldn't resist. It was amazing how that child had her completely in his hands. She started to sing and her baby started to feel sleepy. She stood up and took him to bed, where he held her finger in his little ones the entire night.

He was her little miracle and she barely had worries when he was with her. The world could stop turning and completely fall apart, as long as she had Allan she could face everything.

**Present Days**

Danny floated around Sam's living room invisible when her phone rang. She looked surprised, but picked it up after a few seconds.

"Hello?" She said, Danny floated closer so that he'd hear the conversation.

"Sam? It's Jazz."

"Jazz?" Sam frowned "How did you get my number?"

"Your mother told me, anyway, Sam I was wondering if you have seen Danny before you went away this morning." Jazz said pretending to be worried.

"No, I haven't seen him since Saturday morning, why?" Sam, Danny noticed, started getting worried, too.

"He disappeared! He was so upset when you went away that I'm afraid he's gone after you." Jazz said.

"Well, I doubt it he doesn't know where I live." Sam answered, slightly relieved.

"It doesn't matter now; I just wanted to ask you to keep an eye open in case he's looking for you."

"Ok, I'll see. Thanks for warning me." Sam said, hanging up the phone quickly before Jazz had a chance to say goodbye. She stood up, looking as furious as the Dragon Ghost. "Danny if you're here you better show up right now!"

It wasn't supposed to be like that. She wasn't supposed to be that angry. He was supposed to be in the control of the situation, he was the one to start a fight if there was any. He gulped when he saw her crossing her arms and tapping her feet impatiently.

"If you're here." She said, looking at the empty walls. "You must have seen what I have prepared in the kitchen. There's nothing you can do to stop me!" And she quickly ran to kitchen, grabbing all the pills at once.

The pills completely disappeared in her hands and fell on the floor as if they had been intangible. She gave a small frustrated laugh and opened her eyes to see Danny Phantom looking at her in disapproval, but at the same time he tried to look threatening he looked helplessly sad.

"I knew it." She sobbed, falling on her knees. "You are going to haunt me for the rest of my days, aren't you?" She yelled.

"I don't want to hurt you," Danny said. "I just arrived if that's what you're concerned about." He lied, deciding that it was batter to show her that she still could keep her secrets.

"I want to be alone." She sobbed, pushing his arms away before he had a change to hug her. "Don't make me have to move to China, or Russia or somewhere you can't find me." She cried out, running out of breath.

"I think that you should go to bed." He said. "You look tired."

"How dare you talk to me like you're welcome here?" She shouted, in the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Shut the fuck up, Sam!" Danny yelled, making her stare at him in shock. "You're not thinking straight right now and whatever happened or may happen I won't leave you here to rot!"

Sam was shocked that Danny would yell at her, they had their fights, but he had never yelled at her, he had never been aggressive. She started shaking and she suddenly felt like she had no control of her body anymore. She felt heavy and her head felt light like it wasn't part of her body. She collapsed in his arms, confused and helpless.

"I'm sorry." He said gently, "But you need to get better." And he carried her to her bed where she fell immediately asleep.

**I know you were curious about Allan so I decided to give you a piece of Sam's life while she was with him. Wasn't he adorable? Be a good reader and review and I'll give you another cookie. :-) **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**Present Day**

Danny woke up on the cough when the sunlight decided to infuriate him. He looked around and remembered the commotion last night. After Sam had blacked out he went to the kitchen and threw away all the sleeping pills she had.

He stood up and decided to check if she hadn't done anything during the night. He tiptoed to her bedroom and found her lying down exactly in the same position he had left her. He sighed in relief and decided to wake her up and see if she needed anything.

Gently approaching her, he kneeled beside her and brushed a few hair strands out of her face. Her eyelids moved, but she didn't give a sign of waking up. He moved closer to her, before he realized what he was doing, and gently brushed his lips to hers.

He was expecting her to wake up and slap him, but instead, he felt her slowly responding to his kiss. A wave of relief rushed through him making him feel light-headed. He felt like he had been waiting his whole life for that moment. Her lips felt familiar, just like going back home.

He pulled away slightly to take his breath, but when he did he felt her hands on his shoulder pushing his face back towards her. He sighed and lay by her side hugging her tightly as their lips danced an innocent and tentatively rhythm.

The innocence was completely lost in a few minutes. Sam seemed to wake up to a whole new sensation, deepening the kiss to desperation. She moved her hips under him, moaning and gasping for air. If she realized she was driving him nuts in the process she didn't care. In their twenty two years they had never experienced such intensity.

Danny tried to push her lips away from his once before completely giving up into the sensation. He gave her one long, hard kiss and noticed that she had started working on his clothes, trying to take them from him.

It was so wrong… but for the first time in a whole year Sam noticed that maybe she could make it.

**Five Years Ago**

"Hello beautiful."

"Danny, I'm still mad at you for the other night."

"I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Sam was caught completely by surprise dropping her books in the middle of the corridor, when she heard Danny saying that. She turned around to look at his face for the first time after three days ignoring him. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep since their fight.

"What's happening to us?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a low voice so that the other students wouldn't hear them.

"We never fought, Sam and suddenly we're having all this bickering." He started. Sam smiled, completely understanding what he was saying. She had thought about that, too, but she had accepted it and it looked like Danny didn't want to do the same.

"It's just that we're not sharing the same interests anymore." She explained, gently touching him in the arm. "You are busy with Valerie, Tucker is busy with Star and I'm sort of the third wheel."

"You're not-" Danny started, but Sam sealed his lips with a finger.

"Don't interrupt me." She warned. "It's healthy that you'd be interested in girls and I completely understand that, but that's something a best girl friend can't share with you. I'm bored sometimes and in order to do something – anything – I found a club and a few people I could hang out with while you're in your dating obligations. I smoked? Yes I did. I've been smoking for two years now but I barely reach a pack per month. I do it when I'm upset, just that."

"That's a still a lot." Danny groaned. "It bothers me to see you doing that."

"Well, I'm going to stop for now because it's ruining my voice and… well, soon you'll see." She grinned. "I drink socially, but I promise you I'm not in the road for alcoholism. And just to make sure you didn't get the wrong idea, I'm not doing drugs. Does that make you feel better?" He nodded. "Good and now I hope we're cool again."

"We are." He brushed her fingers gently, feeling all the stress he had been feeling being flushed down the toilet.

"And I'm sorry, too." Sam said, blushing slightly.

"What are you saying? I started the fight."

"I'm sorry for inviting you to my 'Gregor Samsa night'."

"Your what?" He half laughed, not catching the joke.

"It's just that some days I wake up like a horrible insect." She smiled at him.

"Danny!" Valerie called his name in a warning voice. She probably saw him touching Sam's hand.

"I guess I better go." Sam said, waiting for Danny to confirm that she should go and quick. "I'll see you around." But before she left she called him one more time. "You're still my best friend."

**Present Day**

Sam sat quietly on the kitchen as she watched Danny going through the fridge to prepare breakfast. She had been out a whole week so mostly of the food she had left was completely rotten. He had left quickly while she was in the shower and bought milk, pancakes and eggs.

He looked his happiest.

She still was embarrassed.

He put a plate with pancakes in front of her and another one across her where he sat after pouring them both some milk. He sat down and ate with the hunger of a lion. She could barely swallow the first bite.

"Danny… about this morning…" She started, but he interrupted her with a kiss.

"Don't think about apologizing. I dreamed about it for years." He said, sincerely. "I already said I love you and this is not going to change."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"C'mon Sam, don't cry." He tried to calm her down. "I wanted you to feel better, not worse."

"I know." She replied, wiping her tears and giving him a small smile. "Thank you."

"Do you have to go work?" He asked, carefully, he didn't want to upset her.

"No, I have two more days off." She said.

"I was wondering why you didn't try a carrier in music" He started, playing with his food.

"That's not a stable profession. I had to think of my kid." She answered quietly.

"You got a letter from that audition, did your mother tell you?"

"No, I never gave her chance to."

"I think they accepted you." Danny smiled, finishing their calm interlude.

"I guess I owe you." She sighed.

"You don't owe me anything, don't even think about it."

"I'm alive." She said. "If you hadn't shown up I'd be dead by now." She looked at him incredulously. Did that man just give her another chance to live? Had he just given her the first drop of happiness she hadn't felt for so long?

Was he even real? Was he really her teen crush? Her first love?

"We don't have to talk about it if you're not ready, yet." He said quietly. "But I'd like to know someday." She gave him a small, pained smile and stood up.

"Finish your breakfast, I'll get some photos and wait in the living room."

Danny felt his heart skip a beat. She was going to tell him everything. She was finally going to share with him all her secrets. She was going to tell him about Allan, wasn't she? How she got pregnant and anything else that was necessary to clear her conscience.

He stood up and put his plate on the sink, thinking of leaving to do the dishes later. He crossed the kitchen that looked way bigger than before, the corridor that seemed even longer and finally arrived on the living room where Sam was sitting with four different albums.

"Here." She patted the small space by her side. "I'm going to tell you everything."

She opened the first album. It had a title on top 'Allan – first year." He saw a picture of small baby breastfeeding.

"When I found out that I was pregnant…" She started.

"_I was in the bathroom when my father saw the test's packages in my bed. He pulled me out of there and threw me on the bed. My mom came running inside the room and saw when my father slapped me across the face. She saw the tests that indicated that I was pregnant and ran after my father. _

_I was crying when he returned to my room a few minutes later. He held a belt and he started hitting me. I turned around until I was facing the bed so that he wouldn't hurt my baby. From the moment I realized that I was protecting him that child became the most important thing in my life._

_My mother stopped him and that night I heard him crying and asking my mother what they had done wrong, why I was such a rebel child. I think that hurt more than the belt. In the morning, when I was alone, I packed my bags and decided that I had to go away, but I confess that I didn't want to go away by myself. _

_That's why I stopped by your house before leaving. The idea of being alone in the world with a child frightened me, but when you said you wanted to be with Valerie I understood that that was the right choice. The right order of things. I couldn't steal your future away from you like that, it was my responsibility and I would do it alone._

_I drove until I reached New York and from there I moved to Canada. I felt horrible the first time I stepped into this country with nowhere to go. It felt like there was nothing left in the world. Anyway, in the same day I found an apartment with furniture in the suburb, near a few clubs. I was scared at first, but I got used to it because I saw that there was no danger at all. _

_The money I had left was enough for a week. I tried to get a job as a waitress, but I didn't have the time for that because I had just gotten into a special summer school to finish my studies. One year in three months, it was special for adults who didn't have a good education and for kids that in my case didn't have condition to finish high school in regular basis. Anyway, I heard of a strip club that paid enough for me to live all summer. I went in there, stripped, got the money and tried to not think about it. Before you ask, no, I didn't sleep with anyone, I just stripped. _

_I did my finals and got high scores. I applied for college and got in. It was a course that lasted only two years. I worked part time in a restaurant and when my stomach started showing some older girls in the campus offered me some help. There's a special law for pregnant students. You can be excused from class as long as you keep studding at home and do some special researches that you send to the teachers instead of doing exams. I had four months license and did fourteen researches. _

_I gave birth on the first week of my license and had amount of time to catch up later. I had one year license from work and was receiving my salary normally so I wasn't worried about money. He was born exactly a month after I turned seventeen._

_When Allan was born I lost a lot of blood so I had to stay in the hospital for a few days and so did he, later when I woke up the doctor explained to me that he was born with this heart disease and that he was very weak. The doctor was very sincere and said he didn't know if Allan could make it or not. _

_I couldn't even breastfeed him properly because he'd get tired so easily. I was able to take him home after a few weeks and I always had to return to the hospital for tests, ECGs and stuff. _

_But Allan was a very strong boy and he played normally, he slept a lot, too, but the doctor said it was normal. He made it to his first birthday and it was when he said his first word, he called me 'mommy' as soon as he woke up that day. _

_It pained me that I had to take him to baby school everyday because I had to study and work. I swear I almost gave up studding because I had to be more than ten hours away from my baby daily. I talked to the principal and due my high scores he allowed me to take classes during the night when adults usually studies and I was allowed to take Allan with me as long as he didn't disturb the classes. They offered me a well paying job at the university doing research. I could quit the restaurant and was able to work at home, watching Allan full time. _

_The next year I had my BA degree and a teacher helped me to get the job in the Magazine. Since my payment was higher I moved to a better apartment. Allan was two years old and started going to school. I was called there several times because he ran out of breath and could barely play games with the other kids. _

_I remember the first time his teacher saw me, she thought I was his big sister and I had to tell her the embarrassing fact that I had been a mother when I only seventeen. I explained to her his heart disease and that the doctors thought he had a good chance to grow up and be a normal kid. _

_At home I played with him as if he was a normal child. He never got tired playing with me. He was a very smart child and loved to watch cartoons. He was completely addicted to stories that had Prince Charming and Princesses. _

_One day he came to me and said I was his princess and that he'd protect me. He was already three years old and he bounced around the house like a little hero. He took a taste in acting and always asked me to play different princesses for him to save. _

_I loved it when he asked to sleep in the same bed as me because I would cuddle with him the whole night like he was a teddy bear. _

_Two months before he turned four, his teacher called me in the work saying that he had collapsed in the middle of the class. An ambulance had taken him to the hospital and I met him there. He was at the ICU for three days completely unconscious. _

_The doctor explained to me the heart was failing him and that he needed immediate surgery and that it was very risky, but if they didn't try he'd die by the end of the week. I spent the night by his side caressing his hand. The first thing in the morning they took my baby to the surgery, but he didn't make it."_

Danny felt his heart being squeezed into his chest. Sam was sobbing next to him when she showed him the last picture of them together, Allan had big smile on his face. Losing a child was something horrible and the last thing he expected was Sam to have such misfortune.

What if Allan had never been born? It was cruel to think like that, but if Sam had a miscarriage in the first months of her pregnancy and never met her child she couldn't have had the time to love him, to know him as a person. A miscarriage was a tragedy, but maybe it was better than to watch your son grow up and die when he's barely four.

"Sam… that's why you tried to kill yourself, right? I understand and I won't be mad at you anymore." Danny said, holding her tightly and letting her cry on his chest. "Cry all you want."

"Danny I'm so horrible!" She cried.

"You're not horrible, what are you talking about?" He caressed her back, playing gently with her hair, hoping it would calm her down.

"I am horrible, listen," She broke free from his embrace, drying her tears and looking into his eyes as if she was ready to face her own death. "I have to tell you something very important about Allan." She explained, saying each word slowly, tasting the bittersweet irony on her lips as if it was a knife cutting deep into her heart.

"Just say it already; I'm here for you no matter what." Danny insisted, her conversation was freaking him out.

"Before I tell you this, I must thank you for everything you've done for me and that I understand if you stand up and walk out that door and never want to see me again." She managed to say in a raspy voice that sounded like she had a sore throat. Her crystal tears gently ran down her porcelain face.

Danny nodded; sure that whatever she said there was nothing that would make him want to leave such a beautiful creature ever again. He gently wiped a tear away and kissed her lightly on the lips. That gesture only made her cry even harder.

"You see, Danny… Allan… he… He was our son."

**Please... don't kill me.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**Five Years Ago**

Sam and Danny were laughing in the backseat of Danny's car while Tucker and Star had their share of their drinking game in the front seat. They parked under a tree in a dark side of the park so that no one would see them drinking.

Danny had to admit it was fun. He had tried alcohol before, but unlike Sam he had never drank too much, not to reach the point of getting drunk. But tonight it was a good idea, he was among friends, he had fought with Valerie and he had seen how beautiful Sam was singing her heart out in that green dress.

It didn't help the fact that she was very near him, with her own bottle of booze, a bottle that she happily (and drunkenly) shared with him.

"I'm going to pass out." Tucker said, leaning against the seat.

"Oh, no you won't." Star said, kissing him until he was awake again. "I bet you can't catch me." She said, running away from the car and into the park.

"Tell me she didn't do that." Tucker groaned, getting out of the car and running after her, too.

Sam watched the scene incredulously with her mouth hanging open.

"That was the oldest trick, ever!" She said, laughing and leaning back into Danny's arms, sitting on his lap, while he lay across the seat that was long enough to make it comfortable to stretch their legs.

"Trick?" Danny asked, confused, embracing her comfortably, his chin resting on top of her head.

"They're going to have sex in the bushes." She laughed.

"What?" It was Danny's turn to stare at where they had disappeared incredulously.

"Leave them alone." Sam said, grinning. "They'll be back by dawn." She took another gulp of her drink and passed the bottle to him to finish it off.

They spent some minutes in silence and Sam felt her head spin in like it always did when she was drunk, she could barely keep her eye open and she knew Danny was feeling exactly the same. There was no way they could drive back home.

She chucked softly when she realized how drunken Danny was. He was very cute like that. She felt when he took his chin off her head and bent down his head to caress their cheeks together. She giggled when his eyelashes tickled her.

The giggles died down when Danny planted a soft kiss on her neck. She would have missed it if he had kissed her only once, but soon he kissed her again and again and again, each time he spent more time touching her skin. He gently bit her and she took a sharp intake of breath suddenly aware that her body was on fire.

She turned around in his arms until she was completely facing him, their bodies pressed together chest to chest, hips to hips. She shivered when she looked into his eyes. His eyes were misty, as if he was in some kind of dreamland. She wondered if he was even seeing her.

"Danny, what are you…" She started, but he shut her put with a kiss.

"Sam, I know it is you." He said, making her wonder if he could read her thoughts. "Nobody tastes so heavenly." And he kissed her again and her mind completely shut down to the resistances.

Unfortunately her brain also shut down from memories. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she found herself half naked on top of her best friend who was sleeping, also half naked. She sat up on him, looking puzzled and just with that movement she noticed that they were still connected.

She panicked completely. Her eyes filled with tears when she realized that their friendship would be ruined forever. In the middle of the despair and being able only to think what the hangover permitted, she made a choice to not let him know what they had done in the middle of their drunken party.

She carefully crawled out of his lap, her eyes watering from pain. She put all her clothes on and walked out of the car, covering Danny with his discarded jacket. The sky was slightly orange meaning that the sun was about to show up in the horizon. She grabbed her bag and wrote a note "I had to go home before my parents realize I'm gone." And simply walked back home, her heart was hurting each step she took. She had her first time and she didn't remember it.

She just hoped he wouldn't remember anything when he woke up as well.

**Present Day**

Danny felt his heart stop. He was dizzy.

The girl in his arms cried softly as she watched his expression change from puzzled to disappointment, then to complete confusion. He shook his head and his eyes moved quickly, looking around the room as if he was remembering something that wasn't supposed to be real.

"I'm sorry." Sam touched him lightly on the cheek, but he brushed her hand away, stepping away from her just like she had predicted.

He tried to stand up, but his legs were weak and he fell on the couch once more. Sam wanted to hug him, but she didn't dare to touch him again. He didn't say a word, even though he opened his mouth more than once to try to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.

He had to think.

He had to think far away from Sam.

He stood up, walked to the door and left, exactly what Sam was prepared for. It hurt to see it, but Sam knew she had done something horrible and that she'd have to face the consequences. She was going to give him all the time he needed to think about it.

She had never realized how horrible it sounded. She had taken his child away from him! He never had a chance to meet his own son. She had made the decision for him; she never asked him if he would like to be a parent, she just assumed he'd be better with Valerie, since he loved her so much.

She was a horrible person. She didn't deserve to be forgiven.

Danny realized he was standing in front of Allan's grave and he had no idea how he had gotten there. He grimaced and buried his face on his hands. How could he have not noticed that Allan had his features? His nose? His mouth?

Sam could be right; Allan could be his son, but if he was how come he didn't remember sleeping with her before that morning? Had they done it more than once? She had never been with anybody else?

He didn't doubt her word, but he didn't remember any of it. In Allan's grave was written he was born in February, it meant that if they had slept together it had been sometime in April… five years ago. There was no way he could remember that.

He sighed heavily. What had she done? Why she had never told him? Was she scared he'd call her a liar and never talk to her again? It hurt him more than knowing he would never see his son, the fact that she didn't trust him with the truth.

He had never been so confused in his life. Allan had looked like him, but he had no evidence he had been with Sam five years ago and after all Sam was very disturbed, she was psychologically unstable and she might as well have imagined that whole story. Maybe when she calmed down she'd remember who the real father of her child was.

Still, he had a feeling that that boy was his. The only way he could remember was if he talked to her, but really, at that moment, he felt more like being alone. He had to think, he had to know how to act in front of her.

His cell phone rang; he wasn't on the mood for conversation. He picked it up to see who it was and felt slightly better when he saw that it was Tucker. He wiped a tear and sniffed, doing his best to not sound like he had been crying.

"Hello, Tuck."

"Danny, your sister told me you're with Sam in Canada!" Tucker said, his voice showed that he was surprised and worried.

"Yes, I am." Danny sighed. "What did she say to you exactly?"

"Everything! That her father died, that she had a son who is also dead! Man, she must be a mess." Tucker said, thirsty for news.

"She's really depressed; I'm trying to help her." He said. "How was your honeymoon?" Danny tried to change the subject, but Tucker wasn't very interested in letting the subject drop just yet.

"It was great, but Danny, tell me about Sam, how is she doing? Will she ever come back? Why she never told us she was pregnant?"

"Tucker, do you remember anything special that might have happened in an April, five years ago?" Danny asked, deciding that he needed help to sort it all out.

"I don't remember, man… but I can check my PDA, my web journal archives." Tucker said and Danny heard that he was already checking it.

"She told me something that I need to make sure its true before doing anything." Danny started.

"That includes telling me, right? Hang on I'm reading it." Tucker said and spent the last minute in silence. "Look, it seems that the thing that happened concerning Sam in that April was around the last week when she invited us for that audition."

"Holy shit, the audition night!" Danny's eyes widened. "We went out and drank, right? Isn't that what happened?"

"Well, I remember I had the time of my life with Star." Tucker laughed. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

"I don't remember much about that night. I remember Sam had disappeared when I woke up, but that's all. Listen, Tuck, it's very important that you tell everything you remember." Danny said, sounding almost desperate.

"Ok, let's see, I remember we parked in the park and we drank until we passed out. I woke up with Star when the sunlight disturbed me and we walked back in the car where you were asleep." Tucker explained.

"Was I naked or something?" Danny asked.

"Well, you were a mess…" Tucker finally understood Danny's concern. "Whoa! Wait! Are you saying that you and Sam did something that night?"

"A mess how?" Danny insisted.

"I don't remember exactly, you didn't have a shirt on, but I don't know much more, even because Star was with me and she was much nicer to look at then you."

"Tuck… do you think it's possible that Sam and I had sex that night?" Danny asked carefully.

"She said it's your son, didn't she?" Tucker replied sadly.

"Answer the question, Tucker!" Danny yelled on the phone, hearing his voice echoing all over the hill.

"Yes, Danny, I think it's possible and probable." Tucker sighed, he heard Danny breathing sharply. "Do you need help? Where are you now, man?"

"I'm standing over my son's grave."

**Five Years Ago**

Sam had gone away for two months already and it was the middle of summer break and Danny was bored. He wasn't going out with Valerie anymore, but Tucker still was with Star and Danny was feeling all the loneliness Sam had described on her web journal.

She had changed her account to private and he wasn't able to access it unless he had her password. It took him three days to figure out that her password was 'Phantom'. He left Tucker a message on his cell phone telling him the password, then he fully concentrated on reading the diary.

The layout was dark and had a dark book in the center with a bloodied cross on top of it. The last post was the one he had already read the day Sam had gone away. The last post date was by the end of April, the audition night; she had written she had a surprise for her friends.

Danny started checking the whole journal; there was a link to the archives, the last entries. Her journal's first publish date two years old. He decided to read everything and organize his memories, he needed to know when he had started hurting her like she claimed in the last post.

His hands were shaking and he had this feeling on his stomach when he knew he was doing something wrong, immoral. But he had to know what had happened to his best friend and at that moment he wanted the morals to go to hell.

_1st. Entry: Test_

_2nd. Entry: Looks like this web journal thing works, at least now I can stop buying paper and strike against the industries that sells paper made out of innocent trees. _

_Yesterday was my fifteenth birthday and I can't believe how weird it was. First, it was an ordinary day, Danny and Tucker hadn't remembered and when I was mad and went away they must have realized it. I can't believe they said it was a surprise! They think I didn't notice it, but I'm not complaining; they gave me flowers! It was the first time I ever received flowers. _

_They followed me to the Gothic Poetry Club. I'm still a bit shaken up for the fact that they saw me smoking. Really, it was the first time I tried it and bang, there they were to see it. Danny was pissed off. I had one or two cups of Tequila (I had never tried anything stronger than Wine, but really, this stuff is great!) and they saw it, too. They must think I'm a junkie now. _

_Anyway, we were talking outside the club when these policemen saw me… of course they noticed I was underage and guess what? They knew my father! When they read my ID they immediately took me home and my father was so angry I thought he was going to hit me. I think I was drunk… because I don't remember much of the fight. I noticed I had a bruise on my arm when I woke up this morning. My mother just came in saying I am grounded for a month, it means no internet and no telephone. I'm going to call Danny quickly and explain everything. _

_3rd. Entry: Oh My Gosh. Danny and I kissed! Ok, from the start: we were waiting for Tucker on the roof for star gazing and he asked me if I felt anything when had our two fake-out-make-out and I was about to hyperventilate. He caught me completely by surprise I almost ruined our friendship right then and there. _

_Sometimes being sarcastic is good because you can be confused and people will think you'll just been smart-ass. I think that's what Danny thought because he was a little impatient. I tried to explain to him that our kisses weren't special because we're not in love, but then he pulled me down and kissed me!_

_I thought we were just going to press lips together like we did before, but… oh dear, it makes me blush just thinking of it, we deepened the kiss, touched tongues and everything. I managed to break away, I didn't want him to notice I was enjoying it, what would he say? I told him I didn't feel anything, but… I think I felt more than I realized. _

Danny blushed when he read that. He remembered that night clearly. It was his first real kiss and he bet it was Sam's too. He had loved that kiss. She was as confused as he was that day. He sighed and decided to jump the entries to current year. He looked for text she had posted last summer.

_20th. Entry: I can't believe I let Danny and Tucker see my tattoo! I completely forgot about it (well, luckily they didn't see my other one). I think they were surprised… Danny couldn't close his mouth, I think he caught about five flies or more. LOL. _

_I can't believe school starts next week, I loved the summer and I want more! I think he forgot about Valerie for while, really, that girl pays no attention to him and he still follows her around like a trained poodle! It's so irritating to see him like that. It's like he completely forgets dignity. Anyway, I gotta go, my grandma said she'd show me an ancient book or something like that. _

_21st. Entry. Jeez, I haven't written for a month! I had nothing out of ordinary to tell, but something happened today, well, actually, two things. _

_I skipped school because nobody woke me up and I was really late. Danny showed up after school and guess what? I was completely bare when he walked into my room. It was embarrassing, but I forced to think of him like my best friend and quickly got dressed. It wasn't his fault. And it's not like it's a big deal, he's after that little bitch still, I doubt he saw me at all. _

_We walked to the Nasty Burger and when we were having Sundays my cell phone rang and my father said grandma had just died. _

_It was the strangest feeling. I had never had someone so close to me to die. It feels like a dream, too surreal to be true. She was the only one I ever talked to in this stupid house. I think I can say she was my friend. I told her so many secrets. I'm sorry she's gone… she used to say she wanted to live to see me getting married (I told her I won't get married, I won't surrender to social conventions of a hypocrite patriarchal society!)… and now I'm feeling like I've disappointed her. _

_22nd. Entry: today is Christmas (and Hanukkah, my mother sent me a reminder) and I was supposed to be completely by myself on my PJs, slippers and Christmas movies, but when I woke up it took exactly five minutes for Danny to show up. He gave me a bracelet and I won't take it off ever. It's beautiful! I gave him a watch and he said he liked it, too. _

_It was going great, really, but then he told me he was going out with Valerie. I was so surprised that I almost blew my 'best friend' mask right there in front of him. I'm so ashamed now. He likes her, it's not my business. I'm not getting in between them, as much as I want to rip Valerie's hair out to take out my stress, it's not her or Danny's fault. It just happened. _

_23rd. Entry: Finally the winter is over. I had a talk with Danny and Tucker about the whole 'girlfriend' thing, I said I was afraid we'd fall apart and they promised we wouldn't, that every Tuesday we'd meet and keep with the friendship. I have one day of the week while their girls get all the other days. I won't show them how jealous I am; I can't let them see it. _

_I got invited to a party, it was a mix of punk and gothic people. I didn't want to go alone, Jason was going to be there (Jason is the only guy I talk to in the Gothic Poetry Club), but I decided to call Danny and Tucker, too. _

_Before they arrived I admit I was already drinking too much. I had sensation on my brain… like it was spinning and I was pretty sure I didn't understand whatpeople were saying. My second drunk day! You know what? I like it. I smoked, too, but I think I don't like it very much; I get this horrible taste in my mouth after… _

_When Danny saw me he was pissed. We fought and it was ugly. I'm so angry right now that I don't want to look at him for the next month! He has no right to treat me like he own me or something. He reminded me of my father that moment. I think that's why I'm so angry. I need to cool down before I talk to him again. _

_24th. Entry: I spent three days without talking to Danny and finally he came to me and apologized. I think we talked for about five minutes before Valerie snatched him away. _

The last entry was the one she wrote on the audition day. There wasn't anything else that could help him find her. She had never premeditated going away.

**Ok, now that I have explained a lot of things... you must realize that this fic is comming to an end. Tell me what you think about it before it's too late!**

**By the way, I am writting about a backpacking travel I did last summer throught Italy and in case you're interested I'm posting it in this URL: H t t p / m i k i l a n d i a . b l o g s p o t . c o m Each city will be a different entry and I update weekly. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

**Present Day**

Sam was sitting in front of the fire, holding a cup of hot tea while she waited for something to happen. Something had to happen. It was past nine and the sky was dark. She was exhausted, but she wouldn't go to sleep before she had an answer from Danny… she couldn't close her eyes without seeing his hurt face when she told him her secret.

She had screwed up badly. She wasn't expecting him to forgive her, but she hoped he wouldn't go away without saying goodbye. She didn't deserve him to be that considerate.

The fire was dying down and she didn't have the strength to go stand up and put more wood in it. She slowly lay down, feeling her head hurt like it was smashed against the wall, and placed the cup by her side. She closed her eyes and wished she'd never open them again.

The clock counted three hours since she had moved. The door creaked open and a very pale Danny stepped inside.

He looked at the girl laying on the floor and smiled slightly, shaking his head. She used to do that when they were younger, she used to sleep next to the fire. He leaned closer and saw her sad face; she looked like she was having a nightmare.

On the fluffy Persian carpet was a warm place to stay, so Danny didn't mind waking her up, instead, he lay down behind her and put an arm around her waist, bringing her closer gently.

He couldn't be mad at her. He couldn't be angry when he knew she only had good intentions. He still had to hear what she had to say before making any decision that he could regret for the rest of his life.

While he was laying there, holding the girl that has shared a whole life with him (a life that seemed so distant now), he finally put himself on her place, in her shoes, and wondered how she could have been so brave, how much she had faced to raise his child.

He buried his nose in her hair, taking in the perfume he loved so much. How did she wake up in the morning? How could she even breathe again after what happened? She was the strongest person he had ever met.

Sam moved slightly in his arms causing him to hold his breath as if it would wake her up, but he was too late, she noticed someone was cuddling with her. He heard a sigh, a relieved sigh and she put her hand over his. He slowly intertwined their fingers to show her he was awake.

"You came back." He heard her say in a shaky voice.

"I said I wouldn't leave you." He whispered on her ear, noticing that he made her shiver slightly.

"You can't be real." She whispered back. "You must hate me now, not be nice to me."

"I can't hate you, even if I try to."

"You deserve a lot of answers." She tried to change the subject, showing him that she was very awake now.

"We don't have to talk about this now, though I'd like to have some questions answered." He said, seriously, helping her to move around. They were lying facing each other now.

"You can ask whatever you want." She said, holding her tears that once again tried to humiliate her by falling in front of Danny.

"Okay…" He sighed, feeling like he was going to hurt her even further. "I want to know why you didn't tell me in the first place."

"I was scared…" She started, "You didn't remember any of it… you had clear in your head that you always were faithful to Valerie."

"Was it in the night of the audition?" Danny stroked her cheek, gently.

"Yes… I wouldn't have remembered it, too if I hadn't waken up and seen it." She blushed. "Anyway, I was going to tell you that day when I stopped by your house before going away."

"I was blind… Valerie blinded me." He whispered. "I know how lonely you were."

"It's not about loneliness, Danny," She said. "I was the third wheel; I didn't want to bother you. Anyway, when I saw you there with Valerie I noticed that I had no right to take that happiness away from you, even because what we did was an accident, we were drunk."

"It was my responsibility as much it was yours." Danny insisted.

"If I had told you right there that I was pregnant with your baby, would you have believed me?" Sam asked, seriously. "You knew I hated Valerie, you knew I was jealous."

"Good point… I wouldn't have believed it, even because I still don't remember sleeping with you."

"I thought you'd marry Valerie." She sobbed, "I never thought you'd come after me. If I hadn't been so selfish you'd have met Allan."

"I understand that you just wanted to protect him." Danny rested his chin on top of her head. "Besides, your father was pretty harsh on you. There was no way you could have stayed in Amity and forbid him to see his grandson."

"I'm a horrible person. I took your baby away from you."

"I'm the one to blame." Danny said, kissing her head. "But it doesn't matter now; we can't undo what is done."

"I wanted to go back to Amity Park when he was bigger, I mean, around five or six years of age and tell you the whole story, but it had a stupid, tragic end. He was becoming so like you…"

"I saw that he had my nose and mouth." Danny smiled slightly.

"He had your temper, too." She smiled, too. "I was hoping that if you saw him there would be no way you could deny he was your son and that you'd forgive me and we would still be friend while you lived your happy life with Valerie." She sat up. "We'd have a child to bind us together. In a way, it was going to be a happy ending for all of us."

"Listen, I know losing Allan was terrible, but you have to stop blaming yourself. We can still have a happy ending." Danny said, smiling. He had to be the stronger one.

"I don't know if I can move on, Danny… it hurts so much."

"Shhh… you can and you will move on. I'm here to help you." He said, holding her comfortably, watching as she nestled in his arms and slowly lose battle to sleep.

"Danny…" She whispered.

"Yeah…?"

"I have always loved you."

**One Year Ago**

"Mommy?" Allan asked. He was holding Sam's hand as they walked home from school.

"Yes?" Sam asked, looking down to her son who adorably looked like he was too small for his backpack.

"Mrs. Judith asked us to draw our father's job." Allan said.

Sam eyed him, worriedly, hoping that he wouldn't ask what she thought he would.

"I didn't know what to draw and she told me I could draw yours instead." He said, showing her a paper with a colorful draw which was pretty hard for Sam to understand.

"That's beautiful, darling, thank you." She said, making Allan blush proudly.

"Mommy… do I have a dad?" Allan asked her. "Mike said that children with no father are born from eggs."

"You didn't come from an egg." She laughed, making Allan laugh, too. "And you have a very handsome dad who is just like you."

"Where is he?"

"He's a superhero." Sam said. "He's saving the world right now; he's just like Superman, Batman and all those characters you like."

"Really? He's saving the world?" Allan's eyes lightened up, almost sparkling. "Does he wear a blue uniform?"

"No, he wears a black and white uniform." Sam explained. "And he fights ghosts."

"Wow!"

"He flies, he turns invisible, he can walk through brick walls and he can shoot a ghost ray out of his hand."

"Since he's busy you're the one to take care of you, right?"

"Yeah, he told me you'd protect me so I shouldn't worry because you're a hero, too." Sam smiled. They had arrived at their apartment and Allan immediately ran to his room to draw his father's job.

Much later, when Sam called him to dinner, he showed her a drawing of his father (that looked much like a potato with arms and legs) with a black and white uniform, white hair and a smile.

"That's exactly like him." She said and Allan put the drawing on his books so he could show his teacher the next day.

Sam, with a heavy heart to see her child grow up without a father figure, thought that maybe it was better to call Danny and ask him to come over.

She reached the phone and dialed his number, but somehow she couldn't talk to him, before anyone answered it, she hung up, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She needed more time before telling Danny the truth. Every time she pictured him she saw that moment when he had chosen Valerie.

**Six Months Later**

_"I am a gifted person. I lived a whole new life for five years. I've been through the darkest hell and the brightest heaven. Yesterday I was a selfish sixteen years old who complained about being lonely when my best friends got girlfriends and today I'm a woman at my twenty two years old who knows loneliness better than people twice my age. _

_I've chosen the wrong path and did a lot of things I'm not proud of, but I would never wish I hadn't done them because my mistakes taught me how to do things right. _

_When I think of Danny I see the form of my guardian angel. He brought me back to life, blowing air into my body and slowly teaching me how to breathe again. Even if dedicate the rest of my life to him - the father of my child – I know I'll never pay my debt. I was torn and he picked me up._

_The only thing he asked me was for me to not give up living. He asked to have his best friend back and I decided that he deserve so much more._

_I finally listened to my heart and I chose to walk by his side._

_I moved back to Amity Park. Danny and I share a big apartment near his parent's house. He accepts my decision of not getting married (I still fight the system), it's not a silly ring that keep us together, but our hearts._

_It feels like I've lived a whole life before, a life that's not connected to the peaceful and fulfilling life I'm leaving with him. I know I'll never forget Allan; I could never close my eyes and not see his smiling face. I wish I could see him again. He'll lie under the cherry tree forever; the most beautiful spot in Canada was my goodbye gift to him._

_I'm going to treasure these five years of bittersweet interlude like the most precious time of my life."_

"Are you done writing?" Danny asked Sam, who had just published her thoughts on her private blog for the first time in years.

"Yes, I am." She smiled at him as he entered her office. "I wanted to write a bit before going home; I didn't know you would come pick me up." She smiled, shutting down the computed and leaning forward to kiss him on the lips.

"Nick arrived early in the observatory and told me I could go home, so I decided to stop by." He gave her another kiss before helping her grab her purse and other bags. "Have you gone shopping during lunch?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'll show you what I bought when we are home." She smiled mysteriously, grabbing his hand and walking side by side

"Tucker called me and said that his six months anniversary is coming up and that he'd like for us to go over his place and hang out." Danny said, placing a hand on her waist as they walked through the streets.

"Is he going to throw a party every month?" Sam asked, laughing at how ridiculously in love Tucker sounded.

"I know, but I was thinking of maybe throwing a party for ourselves, what you say?" He asked, suggestively.

"As long as you don't make me bake a cake for the guests, I won't mind." She replied, innocently, as if she hadn't caught the drift that he meant a private party.

Danny laughed and didn't say anything. They arrived at their apartment and he opened the door for her, letting her step inside first. She put her bags on the sofa and started taking off her shoes, giving him a nice view of her backside.

"So," He started, closing the door and walking to her, kissing her lightly on the lips, as he drew her closer to him, until both fell on the sofa. "Are going to show me what you bought?" He pulled her down with him, making her sit on his lap. He loved when she sat on him like that.

He reached out a hand and touched her hair, bringing her lips down to meet his in a passionate kiss.

"I'm going to give you a gift." She said against his lips.

"Now?" He asked, confused, breaking the kiss. She grinned at him and reached for the shopping back, not moving from her comfortable seat.

"Close your eyes." She whispered and Danny closed them obediently. He heard noises of plastic bags, of her fingernails scratching a box and noises of thin paper. "You can open them now."

Danny opened his eyes and saw her naughty ones; she was biting her lower lip while holding a pair of tiny blue shoes. Danny stared at them in confusion, not understanding what that was meant to be. Sam watched his face in amazement. He had to figure it out sooner or later. Deciding that patience was not a virtue, she leaned closer to him whispering in his ear.

"It's our second chance." She kissed him lightly. "We're going to have a baby."

**The End**

**I love happy endings. **

**My new fanfic is up already, it's called 'Pretend You Love Me' . Check it out.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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